Generating sound files and transcriptions for use in spreadsheet applications

ABSTRACT

Systems for associating audio files with cells of a spreadsheet are provided. Both audio files and data may be associated with a single cell of the spreadsheet. An audio file may be recorded, retrieved from storage, or converted from a document (e.g., using text-to-speech technology) for association with a spreadsheet. Upon association, audio parameters may be viewed and/or manipulated by a user, providing audio processing functionality within a spreadsheet. Controls may be provided for listening to the audio file and/or playing the audio file in response to spreadsheet data satisfying a condition. Text transcriptions (e.g., speech-to-text) of audio files may be inserted into the spreadsheet. For low vision users, audio transcriptions (e.g., text-to-speech) of data may be generated and “played” for the user. Spreadsheet operations (e.g., sort and/or filter operations) may also be performed on a range of cells based on audio parameters of associated audio files.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.62/249,884, entitled “Compound Data Types,” filed on Nov. 2, 2015; U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/249,869, entitled “Rich Data Types,”filed Nov. 2, 2015; U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/357,292,entitled “Compound Data Objects,” filed on Jun. 30, 2016; and U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/357,284, entitled “Rich Data Types,”filed on Jun. 30, 2016; the entire disclosures of which are herebyincorporated in their entireties herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Today, there is no notion of embedding sound into spreadsheets withoutcustom code. More importantly, even if sound is embedded using customcode, the properties of the sound file cannot be accessed and operatedon by the spreadsheet application. Accordingly, spreadsheets cannotanalyze sound files, play sound files in response to business logic, orotherwise integrate sound processing or sound recognition into thespreadsheet logic. Additionally, current spreadsheets are ill-suited forproviding new features in a touch- or mobile-first world where soundrecordings are immediately and universally available. Nor are currentspreadsheets well-suited for low-vision readers, who use sound to makesense of data in a spreadsheet.

It is with respect to these and other general considerations thatembodiments have been described. Also, although relatively specificproblems have been discussed, it should be understood that theembodiments should not be limited to solving the specific problemsidentified in the background.

SUMMARY

The disclosure generally relates to a system and methods for associatedone or more audio files with one or more cells of a spreadsheet. Inaspects, when an audio file is associated with one or more cells, theaudio file may be treated as a new type of value in the one or morecells. In further aspects, both an audio file and additional data may beassociated with a single cell of the spreadsheet. In some cases, a usermay make an audio recording, e.g., on a mobile device, and associate theaudio recording with a spreadsheet provided by a mobile spreadsheetapplication. Alternatively, the spreadsheet application may have thecapability to generate sound from data using various algorithms tocreate an audio file. For instance, the spreadsheet application mayperform transcription on documents (text-to-speech), convert a chart ora range of values into sound and/or use optical character recognition(OCR) on sheet music generate music. The spreadsheet application maythen associate the audio file with a spreadsheet. In aspects, anassociated audio file may be anchored to a cell or a range of cellswithin the spreadsheet or may be allowed to float over the grid.

Upon associating an audio file with a spreadsheet, various audioparameters (e.g., pitch, length, speed, volume, etc.) may be surfacedfor viewing and/or manipulation by a user. For instance, by exposingoperations for adjusting audio parameters, audio processingfunctionality is provided. Additionally, user interface (UI) controlsmay be provided for listening to the audio file, as well as logic forautomatically playing the audio file when certain conditions inspreadsheet data are met. In further aspects, transcription (e.g.,speech-to-text) of an audio file may be performed and the texttranscription may be inserted into a comment bubble, into the same cellas the audio file, or into different cell or cells of the spreadsheet.Moreover, for low vision users, transcription (e.g., text-to-speech) ofdata within cells of the spreadsheet may be performed and the data maybe “played” for the user at any time. Spreadsheet operations (e.g., sortand/or filter operations) may also be performed on a range of cellsbased on audio parameters of associated audio files.

In aspects, a system is provided that includes a processing unit and amemory storing computer executable instructions that, when executed bythe processing unit, cause the system to perform a method. The methodincludes receiving a selection of at least one cell of a spreadsheet andreceiving a selection of a document. The method further includestranscribing the document and creating at least one audio file.Additionally, the method includes associating the at least one audiofile with at least one cell of a spreadsheet.

In further aspects, a method associating an audio file with at least onecell of a spreadsheet is provided. The method includes receiving aselection of at least one cell of a spreadsheet and recording sound. Themethod further includes creating at least one audio file based on therecorded sound and associating the at least one audio file with at leastone cell of a spreadsheet.

In further aspects, a method of associating a text transcription of anaudio file with a spreadsheet. The method includes receiving at leastone audio file and associating the at least one audio file with a firstcell of the spreadsheet. The method further includes transcribing the atleast one audio file into text and associating the text transcription ofthe at least one audio file with a second cell of a spreadsheet.

In still further aspects, a computer-readable storage medium is providedthat stores computer executable instructions. The computer executableinstructions, when executed by at least one processing unit, cause acomputing device to receive a selection of a range of cells within aspreadsheet, wherein each cell of the range of cells comprises a value.The computer executable instructions further causing the computingdevice to map each value for each cell to an audio pitch and create anaudio file based on each mapped audio pitch. Additionally, the computerexecutable instructions cause the computing device to associate theaudio file with the range of cells.

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Non-limiting and non-exhaustive examples are described with reference tothe following Figures.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system for associating one or more audio files withone or more cells in a spreadsheet, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates a method for associating one or more audio files withone or more cells of a spreadsheet, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 3 illustrates a method for associating one or more audio files andadditional data with one or more cells of a spreadsheet, according to anexample embodiment.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method for exposing one or more operations based onone or more audio files associated with cells of a spreadsheet,according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 5A illustrates an interface showing one or more audio filesassociated with one or more cells of a spreadsheet, according to anexample embodiment.

FIG. 5B illustrates an interface showing play controls for listening toone or more audio files associated with one or more cells of aspreadsheet, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 5C illustrates an interface showing an outcome of a spreadsheetoperation performed on a range of cells associated with a plurality ofaudio files in a spreadsheet, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 5D illustrates an interface showing a UI element for viewing andinteracting with a plurality of audio files associated with a cell in aspreadsheet, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 6A illustrates an interface showing a popup menu for performingtranscription, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 6B illustrates an interface showing a text transcription of anaudio file, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 7A illustrates an interface showing a popup menu for inserting anaudio note in a cell of a spreadsheet, according to an exampleembodiment.

FIG. 7B illustrates an interface showing an audio note inserted in acell of a spreadsheet, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 8 illustrates an interface showing a popup menu for sorting a rangeof cells in a spreadsheet based on one or more attributes of audio filesassociated with the range of cells, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 9A illustrates an interface showing one or more audio files andadditional data associated with one or more cells of a spreadsheet,according to a first example embodiment.

FIG. 9B illustrates an interface showing one or more audio files andadditional data associated with one or more cells of a spreadsheet,according to a second example embodiment.

FIG. 9C illustrates an interface showing one or more audio files andadditional data associated with one or more cells of a spreadsheet,according to a third example embodiment.

FIG. 10 illustrates an interface showing a settings toolbar formanipulating one or more attributes of an audio file associated with acell of a spreadsheet, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating example physical components of acomputing device with which aspects of the disclosure may be practiced.

FIGS. 12A and 12B are simplified block diagrams of a mobile computingdevice with which aspects of the present disclosure may be practiced.

FIG. 13 is a simplified block diagram of a distributed computing systemin which aspects of the present disclosure may be practiced.

FIG. 14 illustrates a tablet computing device for executing one or moreaspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 15 illustrates a method for referencing one or more audio files infunctions of one or more cells of a spreadsheet, according to an exampleembodiment.

FIG. 16 illustrates a method for splicing an audio file associated withat least one cell of a spreadsheet, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 17 illustrates a method for creating an audio file and associatingthe audio file with at least one cell of a spreadsheet, according to anexample embodiment.

FIG. 18 illustrates a method for creating an audio file and associatingthe audio file with at least one cell of a spreadsheet, according to asecond example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, references are made to theaccompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown byway of illustrations specific embodiments or examples. These aspects maybe combined, other aspects may be utilized, and structural changes maybe made without departing from the present disclosure. Embodiments maybe practiced as methods, systems or devices. Accordingly, embodimentsmay take the form of a hardware implementation, an entirely softwareimplementation, or an implementation combining software and hardwareaspects. The following detailed description is therefore not to be takenin a limiting sense, and the scope of the present disclosure is definedby the appended claims and their equivalents.

As described above, the disclosure generally relates to a system andmethods for associating one or more audio files with a spreadsheet. Infurther aspects, both an audio file and additional data may beassociated with a cell of the spreadsheet. In some cases, a user maymake an audio recording, e.g., on a mobile device, and associate theaudio recording with a spreadsheet provided by a mobile spreadsheetapplication. Alternatively, the spreadsheet application may have thecapability to perform transcription on documents (text-to-speech) and/oroptical character recognition (OCR) on sheet music, convert the documentor sheet music into an audio file, and associate the audio file with aspreadsheet. Additionally or alternatively, a function may calculate atranslation from a musical score for piano to a musical score forsaxophone (e.g., a scale and note translation may result in new valuesfor each note in the music, where the ‘result’ is the new score). Inaspects, an associated audio file may be anchored to a cell or a rangeof cells within the spreadsheet or may be allowed to float over thegrid. However, even if the audio file is allowed to float, the audiofile may be referenced by a function in the spreadsheet and operationsmay be performed on the audio file.

Upon associating an audio file with a spreadsheet, various audioparameters (e.g., pitch, length, speed, volume, etc.) may be surfacedfor viewing and/or manipulation by a user. For instance, by exposingoperations for adjusting audio parameters, audio processingfunctionality is provided. Additionally, user interface (UI) controlsmay be provided for listening to the audio file (e.g., play, stop,pause, etc.), as well as logic for automatically playing the audio filewhen certain conditions in spreadsheet data are met (e.g., revenuenumbers hit certain values). In further aspects, transcription (e.g.,speech-to-text) of an audio file may be performed and the texttranscription may be inserted into a comment bubble, into the same cellas the audio file, or into different cell or cells of the spreadsheet.Moreover, for low vision users, transcription (e.g., text-to-speech) ofdata within cells of the spreadsheet may be performed and the data maybe “played” for the user at any time. For instance, a range of valuesmay be described as sound by mapping volume, pitch, etc., to the values.Spreadsheet operations (e.g., sort and/or filter operations) may also beperformed based on the parameters of associated audio files (e.g., basedon pitch, length, etc.). It is with respect to these and other generalconsiderations that embodiments have been made.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system for associating one or more audio files withone or more cells in a spreadsheet, according to an example embodiment.

System 100 may include one or more client computing devices 104 (e.g.,client computing devices 104A and 104B) that may execute a clientversion of a spreadsheet application capable of associating audio fileswith cells in a spreadsheet. In some examples, the client spreadsheetapplication may execute locally on a client computing device 104. Inother examples, a client spreadsheet application (e.g., a mobile app ona thin client computing device 104) may operate in communication (e.g.,via network 106) with a corresponding server version of spreadsheetapplication 110 executing on one or more server computing devices, e.g.,server computing device 108. In still other aspects, rather thanexecuting a client version of a spreadsheet application, the one or moreclient computing devices 104 may remotely access, e.g., via a browserover network 106, the spreadsheet application 110 implemented on theserver computing device 108 or multiple server computing devices (e.g.,in a distributed computing environment such as a cloud computingenvironment).

As illustrated by FIG. 1, a server version of spreadsheet application110 is implemented by server computing device 108. As should beappreciated, the server version of spreadsheet application 110 may alsobe implemented in a distributed environment (e.g., cloud computingenvironment) across a plurality of server computing devices (not shown).Moreover, as should be appreciated, either a client or a server versionof the spreadsheet application 110 may be capable of associating one ormore audio files with cells of a spreadsheet. While a server version ofthe spreadsheet application 110 and associated components 112-122 areshown and described, this should not be understood as limiting. Rather,a client version of spreadsheet application 110 may similarly implementcomponents 112-122 on a client computing device 104.

In a basic configuration, the one or more client computing devices 104are personal or handheld computers having both input elements and outputelements operated by one or more users 102 (e.g., user 102A and user102B). For example, the one or more client computing devices 104 mayinclude one or more of: a mobile telephone; a smart phone; a tablet; aphablet; a smart watch; a wearable computer; a personal computer; adesktop computer; a laptop computer; a gaming device/computer (e.g.,Xbox®); a television; and the like. This list is exemplary only andshould not be considered as limiting. Any suitable client computingdevice for executing a client spreadsheet application and/or remotelyaccessing spreadsheet application 110 may be utilized.

In some aspects, network 106 is a computer network such as an enterpriseintranet and/or the Internet. In this regard, the network 106 mayinclude a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), theInternet, wireless and wired transmission mediums. In further aspects,server computing device 108 may communicate with some components of thesystem via a local network (e.g., an enterprise intranet), whereasserver computing device 108 may communicate with other components of thesystem via a wide area network (e.g., the Internet). In addition, theaspects and functionalities described herein may operate overdistributed systems (e.g., cloud computing systems), where applicationfunctionality, memory, data storage and retrieval, and variousprocessing functions may be operated remotely from each other over adistributed computing network, such as the Internet or an intranet.

As described above, the spreadsheet application 110 may be implementedon a server computing device 108. In a basic configuration, servercomputing device 108 may include at least a processing unit and a systemmemory for executing computer-readable instructions. In some aspects,server computing device 108 may comprise one or more server computingdevices 108 in a distributed environment (e.g., cloud computingenvironment). Server computing device 108 may provide data, includingaudio data and audio attributes, associated with cells of a spreadsheetto and from the one or more client computing devices 104 and/or one ormore other server computing devices (e.g., server computing devices 124Aand/or 124B) via network 106.

As used herein, sound waves may be digitally encoded (e.g., bypulse-code modulation), in some cases processed (e.g., filtered, edited,etc.) and/or compressed (e.g., based on a codec to reduce file size),and stored as an audio file in a file format identified by a fileextension, such as .wav, .wma, .aiff, .m4a, .snd, .mp3, .omf, etc. Forexample, a microphone of a mobile device may record (or capture) soundwaves (e.g., of a conversation) and may convert the sound waves into ananalog electric signal. An analog-to-digital converter (ADC) may thenconvert the analog signal into a digital signal, e.g., generally usingpulse-code modulation. In some cases, the ADC may be available on themobile device, while in other cases the analog signal may be downloadedfrom the mobile device and converted to a digital signal on anotherdevice (e.g., personal or server computing device). The digital signalmay be processed and/or compressed and stored in a file format (e.g.,audio data), as detailed above. Later, when an audio file is played, thedigital signal may be converted back to an analog electrical signalusing a digital-to-audio converter (DAC) for transmission to a speaker.

In aspects, an audio file may be retrieved based on a file locator,which may be a uniform resource locator (URL) identifying a file path toa local storage location or a remote storage location. In aspects, oneor more audio files (e.g., audio files 128A, 128B, and 128C) may bestored in a storage location (e.g., storage 126) accessible tospreadsheet application 110. An audio file may be defined by audio data(e.g., digital data encoding the sound) and audio attributes that maydescribe the audio data (e.g., frequency, amplitude, sampling rate,codec, etc.), audio specifications (e.g., bitrate, volume, pitch, speed,channel, audio effects, etc.) and/or the audio file (e.g., author,creation date and/or time, file name, file size, duration, etc.). Asshould be appreciated, each audio attribute may be defined by anattribute-value pair. That is, an audio attribute (e.g., duration) maybe paired with a value for that attribute (e.g., 1:05 minutes) for aparticular audio file.

In at least some examples, audio attributes may be organized in a datastructure (e.g., a table, array, etc.) based on attribute-value pairsand/or attribute-type pairs. For example, for attribute “bitrate” avalue may be “96 kilobits per second (Kbps)” and a type may be “variablebitrate, VBR”; for attribute “sampling rate” a value may be “44.1 kHz”;for attribute “channel” a type may be “stereo” and a value may be“channel 1”; for attribute “duration” a value may be “21:04 minutes”;for attribute “codec” a type may be “MP3”; and the like. As should beappreciated, the above attribute-value and/or attribute-type pairs areoffered as examples only and any suitable value or type may be pairedwith any attribute identified above. Attribute-value pairs and/orattribute-type pairs associated with audio attributes may be organizedand stored in any suitable data structure, e.g., a table, array, etc.,and may be appended as metadata to an audio file comprising audio data(e.g., digitally encoded audio signals). For instance, as illustrated,metadata 132A may be appended to audio file 128A, metadata 132B may beappended to audio file 128B, and metadata 132C may be appended to audiofile 128C. Alternatively, the audio attributes may be stored in aseparate location or database from the audio files and may be referencedby or otherwise indexed to the audio files (not shown).

As may be appreciated, audio data may include digitally encoded (ormodulated) signals representative of sound waves, where the audio datais in a machine-readable format for storing and/or playing the audiofile. In some aspects, the audio data may be described in terms of soundwave attributes (e.g., frequency, amplitude, etc.), the sample rate atwhich the audio data was captured and/or the codec(compressor/decompressor) used to compress the audio data. Additionally,audio attributes may describe specifications or settings associated withthe audio data (e.g., bitrate, volume, pitch, speed, channel, audioeffects, etc.) and/or attributes of the audio file (e.g., author,creation date and/or time, file name, file size, duration, etc.). Inaspects, audio attributes describe the audio data and/or audio file in ahuman-readable format.

In at least some examples, one or more audio files may be stored indifferent storage locations within a distributed environment (e.g.,cloud computing environment) accessible to spreadsheet application 110over a network, e.g., network 106. As described herein, the location ofan audio file in storage may be represented by a file locator, which maybe a URL to local storage (e.g., C:\Music\favorites\song1.wav) or a URLto remote storage accessible over a network (e.g.,http://www.music.com/90smix/song1.wav). Additionally, an audio file maybe referenced by name (e.g., “song1.wav”) to locate it within the localworkbook file. With respect to remote storage, a URL may provide a filepath to a storage location hosted by a third party (e.g., Pandora®,Spotify®, etc.), in a public or private cloud storage location (e.g.,OneDrive®, iCloud®, iTunes®, Amazon® Cloud Drive, etc.), in anenterprise storage location (e.g., SharePoint®, etc.), in a publicstorage location accessed over the Internet, and the like. In otheraspects, the audio file may be referenced within a function of thespreadsheet by a globally unique name rather than by a URL. A globallyunique name may be any string that is unique across the spreadsheet,e.g., “OctoberEarnings” or “OctoberEarnings.wav.” If the same name isused on different sheets of a spreadsheet to return different values,the name may be qualified by the sheet on which it appears in order tocreate a unique name, e.g., “Sheet1!OctoberEarnings” and“Sheet2!OctoberEarnings.”

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the spreadsheet application 110 may includevarious components for associating one or more audio files with one ormore cells of a spreadsheet, including an associate component 112, ahybrid component 114, a transcription component 116, an attributecomponent 118, an operation component 120, a UX component 122, and thelike. In aspects, each component may communicate and pass data betweenthe other components. The various components may be implemented usinghardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. Moreover,the various components may be executed on a single server computingdevice (e.g., server computing device 108), on multiple server computingdevices (e.g., server computing devices 124A, 124B and/or 130), orlocally on a client computing device (e.g., client computing device 102Aor 102B).

As described above, the spreadsheet application 110 may be configured toassociate one or more audio files with one or more cells of aspreadsheet. As should be appreciated, while examples and descriptionsprovided below may generally reference associating a single audio filewith a single cell, the methods and systems described may similarly beapplied for multiple audio files within a single cell or within a rangeof cells. In cases where application of the methods or systems maydiffer with respect to associating multiple audio files with a singlecell, additional disclosure will be provided.

In aspects, associate component 112 may associate one or more audiofiles with one or more cells of a spreadsheet. In some examples,associate component 112 may associate an audio file with a cell byanchoring the audio file as a value within the cell. For example, theaudio file may be anchored within a cell based on a function in theformula bar of the cell that identifies the file locator (e.g., aglobally unique name or URL) for the audio file (e.g.,=GETAUDIO(“http://www.music.com/90smix/song1.wav”)). Alternatively, anaudio file may be associated with a cell without using a globally uniquename or URL by selecting an “Insert” operation in the toolbar and usinga dialog filtered to sound types to find and insert the audio file. Inthat case, the formula for the cell may specify the audio file as:“=GETAUDIO(song1.wav)”. Alternatively, the audio file may be identifiedwithout a formula, for instance, the name of the audio file may simplybe listed without the “=GETAUDIO” operator, e.g., “song1.wav” or“<Audio> song1.wav”.

Additionally, associate component 112 may associate a plurality of audiofiles with one or more cells of a spreadsheet. For instance, associatecomponent 112 may associate a plurality of audio files with a cell byanchoring the plurality of audio files to the cell based on a functionidentifying the file locators (e.g., globally unique names or URLs) foreach of the plurality of audio files. In other aspects, associatecomponent 112 may associate a plurality of audio files with a cell basedon a function identifying a folder in which the plurality of audio filesis located. In some aspects, associate component 112 may associate theplurality of audio files with one another (e.g., in an array) inaddition to associating the plurality of audio files with a cell and/ora spreadsheet. In other cases, the plurality of audio files may beassociated in an array by a service. For instance, a single audio file(e.g., of a conversation between multiple individuals) may be sent to aservice and an array of audio files may be returned (e.g., including anaudio file for each individual's voice identified and extracted from theaudio file). In other examples, a single audio file may be divided intomultiple tracks (e.g., each track representing a particular loop or waveor sound from the original audio file) and associated in an array. Asshould be appreciated, other examples are possible and may beincorporated according to the methods and systems described herein.

In some cases, in order to indicate that an audio file is associatedwith a cell, a visual representation (e.g., speaker icon, play icon,waveform rendering, sliced waveform rendering, track name with metadata,special icon with metadata, etc.) may be provided for the audio file.For example, the visual representation may depict the actual waveformand may be interactive. That is, a user may scroll along the visualrepresentation and begin listening to the audio file from any positionalong the waveform. Alternatively, the visual representation may notdepict the actual waveform but may be a standard representation of awaveform and may be overlaid with a play icon. In this case, uponselection of the play icon, the audio file may be played from thebeginning of the audio file. In aspects, the visual representation maybe fit to a cell size, i.e., bounded by the cell border.

In other cases, associate component 112 may anchor a portion of thevisual representation (e.g., a top left corner of the visualrepresentation) to a portion of a cell (e.g., top left corner of thecell). In this case, the visual representation may not be fit to thecell size, but may be displayed smaller than the cell (e.g., inside thecell border with at least some white space) or displayed larger than thecell (e.g., extending beyond the cell border onto other cells). In stillother cases, the visual representation may be provided as background fora cell and other data may be displayed over the visual representation(e.g., a title, topic, etc., of the audio file). Whether a visualrepresentation is fit to a cell or not, the audio file that is anchoredto a cell may move with the cell when the cell is relocated within thespreadsheet (e.g., in response to a sort or filter operation). In thisway, a visual representation of an anchored audio file may behave insubstantially the same or similar way as alphanumeric data (e.g.,textual data, numeric data, formulas, and the like) and, thus, maybehave predictably within the spreadsheet in response to operationsperformed on the spreadsheet.

In other examples, the associate component 112 may associate an audiofile with the spreadsheet but may allow a visual representation of theaudio file to float over the grid. When a visual representation of anaudio file is allowed to float over the grid (e.g., over one or morecells of the spreadsheet), the visual representation may be displayedwithin the spreadsheet and the audio file may be played from within thespreadsheet (e.g., by activating a play control associated with thevisual representation, or by launching a user interface byright-clicking or hovering over the visual representation, and thelike). However, in this case, based on a user preference, the visualrepresentation may or may not move with cells as they are relocatedwithin the spreadsheet (e.g., in response to sort or filter operations).In some examples, although the visual representation of the audio filemay be allowed to float, the audio file may be referenced (e.g., byglobally unique name) in one or more functions within the spreadsheetsuch that one or more operations may be performed on the audio fileand/or one or more operations may be performed on the spreadsheet basedon attributes of the audio file. In this case, when cells are relocatedthe visual representation of the audio file may or may not move with thecells, but operations may be performed on the audio file and/or thespreadsheet based on the function referencing the audio file.

Similarly, whether or not a visual representation of an audio file isanchored, floating or even displayed within the spreadsheet, the audiofile may be referenced (e.g., by globally unique name) in one or morefunctions such that one or more operations may be performed on the audiofile and/or one or more operations may be performed on the spreadsheetbased on attributes of the audio file. For instance, the audio file maybe played when a condition of a function referencing the audio file issatisfied (e.g., play referenced audio file when revenue number hits “X”or play referenced audio file as explanation for cost forecast “Y,”etc.).

In some aspects, a user may “change a state” of an audio file withrespect to a cell at any time. For instance, a user may make a selectionto convert a visual representation of an audio file from floating toanchored within a cell. In this case, the visual representation may beselected (e.g., by right click) and may be anchored to a selected cell.A user may also make a selection to convert a visual representation fromanchored in a cell to floating (e.g., by “popping” the audio file out ofa cell). In this case, the audio file may no longer be represented inthe formula bar of the cell and may be displayed as dissociated from thecell (e.g., in another location within the spreadsheet). As should beappreciated, UI controls (e.g., provided in an audio toolbar, providedupon right click of a mouse, etc.) may allow the state of an audio fileto be changed at any time.

In an example, a mobile version of associate component 112 may associateone or more audio recordings from a mobile device in a spreadsheetapplication. For instance, consider a lawyer preparing for a deposition.The lawyer may wish to dictate questions on his or her mobile device andmay further wish to associate the questions with a spreadsheet inpreparation for the deposition. For instance, the lawyer may open amobile version of the spreadsheet application, may select a first cellin a first row of the spreadsheet, may dictate the first question (whichmay be encoded and stored as an audio file by the mobile device), and myinsert the audio file in the selected cell. In some aspects, the mobileversion of the spreadsheet application may automatically associate theaudio file with the selected cell. The lawyer may then dictate a secondquestion and insert it in a second cell in a second row of thespreadsheet, and so on. Thereafter, the spreadsheet application maytranscribe each of the audio files and provide a text transcription ofeach audio file, with the text transcription in the same cell as theaudio file or in a different cell. For instance, the spreadsheetapplication may automatically insert a new cell adjacent to the cellassociated with the audio file and may insert the text transcription inthe new cell. In this way, the lawyer may create a spreadsheet ofquestions by dictation that may be transcribed for later use in thedeposition. As the dictations are associated with a spreadsheet,spreadsheet operations may be performed on the dictations, e.g., thelawyer may filter for dictations recorded on or after a certain date,for dictations including certain keywords, for dictations includingcertain speakers, etc.

In another example, the lawyer may receive a spreadsheet of questionsand related information from an associate. In this case, each questionmay be provided in a different row and column headers may include, forinstance, “question,” “documents,” “desired response,” “potential crossexamination,” etc. In this example, the lawyer may select a cell in thedocuments column for the second question, may record the words “addtitle document” (which may be encoded and stored in an audio file by themobile device), and may insert the audio file in the selected cell.Alternatively, the lawyer may add the audio file as a comment on thecell. In some cases, the lawyer may add more than one audio file to acell (e.g., may insert a first audio file and later insert a secondaudio file with additional notes). The lawyer may make similar dictatednotes and associate the audio files with cells relating to the same orother questions. The lawyer may then save the spreadsheet and forward itback to the associate. When the associate receives the spreadsheet, thelawyer's notes may be transcribed into text or played by the associatein order to take appropriate action for revising the spreadsheet. Asshould be appreciated, audio files may be associated with one or morecells of a spreadsheet by any suitable means and, in some examples, maybe transcribed into text.

Hybrid component 114 may associate different types of data with a singlecell. In some cases, hybrid component 114 may provide a visualrepresentation of the audio file as background for the cell and maydisplay the additional data over the visual representation.Alternatively, a visual representation of the audio file may bedisplayed in one portion of the cell and the additional data may bedisplayed in another portion of the cell (e.g., above, below, to eitherside, or wrapping the visual representation). As detailed above, anaudio file may comprise audio data, which may be digitally encoded (ormodulated) signals representative of sound waves in a machine-readableformat for storing and/or playing the audio file. Additional data mayinclude any type of data other than the audio file, e.g., textual data,numerical data, charts, images, etc. For example, additional data mayinclude a text transcription of the audio file or may includeinformation about the audio file (e.g., song name, song artist,recording date, duration, etc.).

In some cases, hybrid component 114 may associate the audio file withthe additional data in a structured format, e.g., an array, record, ortable, which is referred to herein as a “compound data type.” Inaspects, when a visual representation of the audio file is provided asbackground (or fill) for a cell, use of a compound data type may not benecessary to associate different types of data with the cell; however,when the visual representation of the audio file and the additional dataare displayed in different areas of the same cell, use of a compounddata type may provide advantages. For example, when the audio file andthe additional data are associated with a cell using a compound datatype, layout properties for the visual representation of the audio fileand the additional data may also be organized in the structured format.In some cases, compound data types may even be nested within each other.

The structure of a compound data type may be leveraged in complexcalculations, thereby providing a model for referencing and usingdifferent aspects of the data. For example, each component of a compounddata type may be represented by a formula or a function. Such individualrepresentation of components facilitates the creation of structures in asingle cell where calculations can reference back to other components ofthe compound data type. For instance, any of the fields of the compounddata type can be dereferenced and acted on. That is, a formula may beconstructed to get the value of a special field (“=GetAttribute(<fieldname>)”), an operator may be used to get the value (e.g., the dot “.”operator, “=A1.bitrate”), or a unique name may be used to get the value(e.g., if cell A1 has a unique name,“OctoberEarningsRecording.bitrate”). In this way, each field isavailable to the “calc chain” (e.g., a calculation engine for thespreadsheet) and/or formulas within a spreadsheet.

A compound data type may be an object structured to include or referencethe audio file (e.g., audio data and audio attributes) and additionaldata (e.g., text transcription data, video data, charts, and the like).In some aspects, additional data may be described in terms ofattribute-value pairs. In this case, the natural attribute-valuedescriptors may be leveraged for organizing the additional data withinthe structured format of a compound data type. In other examples, theadditional data may not necessarily be represented by attribute-valuepairs. For instance, the additional data may be a single numeric valuethat is the output of a formula (e.g., total revenue value, sum of arange of cell values, average value over a range of cell values, etc.).In still other examples, additional data may be represented as an arrayor vector of data, as well as any other primitive type (strings,numbers, etc.).

As should be appreciated, in some aspects, an audio file itself may berepresented by a compound data type. For example, as described above, anaudio file may comprise audio data (e.g., modulated data) and associatedmetadata (e.g., including audio attributes). More specifically, asdescribed above, audio attributes may be described in terms ofattribute-value pairs and/or attribute-type pairs and/or may beorganized in any suitable structured format, e.g., an array of values, arecord with an array of fields, a table, an array of vectors, etc. Forexample, some audio attributes may have a type and a value, e.g., forattribute “bitrate,” values may include one of “96 kilobits per second(Kbps),” “64 Kbps,” “128 Kbps,” “320 Kbps,” etc., while a type may be“variable bitrate, VBR” or “constant bitrate, CBR.” Similarly, forattribute “channel,” a type may be one of “stereo” or “mono,” while avalue may be one of: “channel 1,” “channel 2,” “channel 3,” etc. Otheraudio attributes are more commonly associated with values, e.g., forattribute “resolution,” values may be one of “8-bit” or “16-bit”; forattribute “sampling rate,” values may be one of “44.1 kHz” or “48 kHz”;for attribute “duration,” values may be in any appropriate unit, e.g.,“21:04 minutes,” “1:02 seconds,” “1:04 hours,” etc. Still other audioattributes may be primarily associated with a type, e.g., for attribute“codec,” types may be one of: “MP3,” “AAC,” “OGG,” “FLAC,” etc. Thus, anaudio file may be represented by a compound data type in which the audiodata and the audio attributes are stored in (or referenced by) astructured format. In aspects, an audio file represented by a compounddata type may be associated with a cell.

In further aspects, the audio file, including audio data (e.g.,digitally modulated audio signals) and audio attributes (e.g.,attribute-value pairs and/or attribute-type pairs corresponding to audioattributes, as described above), may be associated with additional data(e.g., data describing content of the audio file, a text transcriptionof the audio file, represented by arrays, vectors, etc.) in a singlecompound data type. For example, consider an audio file of aconversation. In this case, the audio file may include audio data (e.g.,digitally modulated audio signals) for storing and playing the audiofile and associated metadata including audio attributes (e.g.,attribute-value pairs and/or attribute-type pairs) defining aspects ofthe audio file, such as bitrate, channel, volume, pitch, etc. Inexamples, additional data may describe or be related to the content ofthe audio file, such as sound recognition data (e.g., identifying a dogbarking, a bird chirping, etc.) voice recognition data (e.g.,identifying various speakers), which speaker talked the most, timestamps for statements made by each speaker, etc. In this case, theadditional data may be represented by attribute-value pairs (e.g.,content attributes). For instance, attribute “speaker 1” may have avalue of “Charles”; attribute “speaker 2” may have a value of “Sarah”;attribute “duration 1” may have a value of “10:03 minutes”; andattribute “duration 2” may have a value of “3:07 minutes”; etc.

Further still, the additional data may be described by formattingattributes that may be represented by attribute-value pairs. Forexample, where the additional data is a text transcription of an audiofile, an attribute “font size” may have a value “11 pt.,” eitherautomatically or by user selection; an attribute “font color” may have avalue “red,” either automatically or by user selection; an attribute“font” may have a value “Calibri,” either automatically or by userselection; etc. Furthermore, layout attributes may define a relativearrangement and/or dynamic display of a visual representation of anaudio file, audio attributes and/or additional data. For instance,layout attributes may define how to display data (e.g., visualrepresentation of the audio file displayed above, below, to the left orthe right of additional data, etc.) and/or which data should bedynamically displayed as a cell is resized (e.g., audio icon displayedin small cell, with more data progressively displayed as the cell isenlarged). Layout attributes may also be defined in terms ofattribute-value pairs, e.g., an attribute “alignment” may have value“top” or “left”; an attribute “progressive display” may have numericalvalues in order of priority such as 1-10, and the like.

Based on the above examples, hybrid component 114 may create a compounddata type including the audio data (e.g., digitally modulated audiosignals), audio attributes (e.g., attribute-value pairs describing theaudio file), additional data (e.g., including attribute-value pairs,arrays, vectors, etc., corresponding to content and/or formatting of theadditional data) and/or layout attributes (e.g., attribute-value pairsdescribing relative alignment or progressive display of the visualrepresentation and additional data) in a structured format. In someaspects, rather than the compound data type including the actual datarepresenting the audio data, audio attributes, additional data(including content and/or formatting attributes) and/or layoutattributes, the compound data type may include an array of fields withreferences or pointers to the actual data, which may be stored as arecord in any suitable database or storage location. As should beappreciated, while alphanumeric data has been discussed above, differenttypes of additional data (e.g., chart data, video data, image data,etc.) may be described by different sets of attribute-value pairs butmay also be represented within the structured format of a compound datatype.

In aspects, when a compound data type is associated with a cell, all orsome portion of the data represented by the compound data type may bedisplayed within the cell. For example, a visual representation of anaudio file (e.g., icon, waveform representation, etc.) may be displayedin the same cell with additional data describing the content of theaudio file (e.g., data depicting the speakers, speaking duration, texttranscription of the conversation, etc.). In some aspects, while audioattributes may be included in the compound data type, the audioattributes may not be displayed in the cell with the visualrepresentation and additional data. Rather, in aspects, audio attributesmay be retrieved from the compound data type and displayed upon a userselection (e.g., right click on the visual representation of the audiofile). As will be described further below, UX component 122 may displayUI controls in a ribbon, toolbar, popup menu, etc., for listening to theaudio file (e.g., play, fast forward, pause, rewind, etc.), viewing ormanipulating audio data (e.g., for audio processing), viewing ormanipulating audio attributes (e.g., pitch, volume, speed, etc.),selecting audio attributes for display (e.g., volume), selecting layoutsfor display of the visual representation with the additional data in acell (e.g., visual representation displayed adjacent text on left orright, visual representation displayed above or below text, textwrapping visual representation, text displayed over visualrepresentation, and the like).

Transcription component 116 may operate in various ways to convert anaudio file into alphanumeric or symbolic data and/or to create an audiofile from alphanumeric or symbolic data. In some aspects, transcriptioncomponent 116 may be hosted by a service in communication withspreadsheet application 110. In other aspects, transcription component116 may execute locally. For example, an audio file of speech may beconverted into a text transcription, which is a textual representationof each word or sound in the audio file. Alternatively, an audio file ofmusic may be converted into a musical transcription, including musicalnotes, bars, frames, and/or musical notations, representing the music ofthe audio file. Conversely, a textual document may be converted into anaudio file, e.g., spoken words may be generated that correspond to thetext of the document. Additionally, a musical score may be convertedinto an audio file, e.g., sound waves representative of the musicalscore. Moreover, algorithms may be used to convert raw numerical datainto an audio file, such as converting different numbers or events tosounds with different pitch. Moreover, additional processing may beenabled beyond a simple transcription from note to note; for example,transposing or auto-tuning may be provided, which require additionalrules to be applied on a per ‘note’ and/or ‘phrase’ basis and mapping toan appropriate ‘scale’ for playback.

In still further aspects, e.g., for low vision users, transcription(e.g., text-to-speech) of data within cells of the spreadsheet may beperformed and the data may be “played” for the user at any time. In thisregard, a spreadsheet may be converted into speech on a cell-by-cellbasis, by groups of cells, or globally across the spreadsheet. Thisfunctionality marks a significant advance over traditional screenreaders. For instance, an audio file may be created to convert datawithin a cell to speech and the audio file may be associated with thecell. In this case, both the original data and the audio file may beassociated with a single cell and a compound data type may be created tostore the different types of data, as detailed above. In some aspects,an audio file may be created for each cell containing data within thespreadsheet. To further improve user experience, particularly for lowvision users, the spreadsheet may be customized to associate sounds withcolors, numbers, trends, or any other aspect of a spreadsheet.

Similarly, by transcribing alphanumeric or other data into an audio fileand associating the audio file with a cell, a spreadsheet applicationbecomes able to read its own data. For instance, when a condition is metwithin the spreadsheet (e.g., a revenue number hits a threshold value,or orders for a product hit a threshold number, etc.), an audio file maybe generated and sent in an email, voicemail, text, etc., or may beassociated with the spreadsheet such that the audio file plays the nexttime the spreadsheet application is opened. The audio file may be anotification (e.g., revenue hit “x”), a reminder (e.g., orders hit 500units, remember to order boxes for shipping), an encouragement (e.g.,“Way to go!” sent to a sales team upon hitting sales goal), or any othermessage. In this way, a functionality of a digital assistant may beimplemented using spreadsheet logic. In further aspects, transcriptioncomponent 116 may be capable of converting an audio file into anysuitable data format and for converting a data format into any suitableaudio file.

In aspects, attribute component 118 may retrieve parameters for eachaudio file associated with a spreadsheet. As detailed above, parametersretrieved for an audio file may include audio data and/or associatedaudio attributes. In some aspects, attribute component 118 may retrieveparameters from a compound data type. For instance, attribute component118 may retrieve audio data, audio attributes, additional data, and/orlayout attributes from a compound data type. In aspects, attributecomponent 118 may retrieve parameters for an audio file and/oradditional data at any time, for example, in response to a selection toassociate the audio file with a spreadsheet, in response to a selectionto manipulate the audio file, in response to a selection to perform aspreadsheet operation, and the like.

Operation component 120 may perform operations on audio files associatedwith cells of a spreadsheet and/or may perform operations on aspreadsheet based on attributes of audio files associated with one ormore cells. For example, a user may select an operation to apply to avisual representation of an audio file (e.g., “fit to cell,” “fillcell,” etc.). For example, in order to fit a visual representation to acell, attributes of the visual representation (e.g., height, width) mayautomatically be adjusted to coincide with a size of a cell. In someexamples, a visual representation of an audio file may be fit (or sized)to coincide with both a cell height and a cell width (e.g., for “fit tocell” or “fill cell”); alternatively, the visual representation may befit to coincide with one of a cell height (e.g., “fit vertically”) or acell width (e.g., “fit horizontally”). Similarly, when a cell isresized, operation component 120 may resize a visual representation ofan audio file associated with the resized cell, either automatically orby a user selection. As should be appreciated, the above examples arenot intended to be exhaustive and a visual representation may be fit toa cell, resized with a cell, or applied as fill by any suitable means,either automatically or by user selection.

Alternatively, operation component 120 may fit the cell to a visualrepresentation of an audio file such that the cell conforms to a size ofthe visual representation. In this case, cell attributes (e.g., a cellheight and/or a cell width) may automatically be adjusted to coincidewith a size of the visual representation. Furthermore, other cellswithin a row and/or a column associated with the re-fit cell may alsoconform to the height and/or width dimensions of the visualrepresentation. As should be appreciated, the examples described aboveare not intended to be exhaustive and a cell may be fit to a visualrepresentation by any suitable means, either automatically or by userselection.

In other aspects, audio attributes, audio data, etc., may be surfaced ina user interface (e.g., by UX component 122) and operation component 120may perform operations in response to a user selection. For example,operation component 120 may receive a selection to change a state of anaudio file. As used herein, a “state of an audio file” may refer to atype of association of the audio file with a cell and/or spreadsheet,e.g., anchored, floating, arrayed, background, etc. Changing the stateof an audio file may involve converting the audio file from one state toanother, e.g., from anchored to floating, from arrayed to independent,from background to foreground, from background to independent, fromfloating to anchored, and the like.

Operation component 120 may also perform any number of operations onaudio data and/or audio attributes. For example, operation component 120may allow operations on an audio file, such as play, pause, stop, fastforward, rewind, etc. Additionally, operation component 120 may allowoperations on audio attributes, such as adjusting pitch, volume, speed,channel, resolution, and the like. Additionally or alternatively,operation component 120 may allow any number of operations on audiodata, e.g., allowing for audio processing of modulated data, such assplicing of an audio file, changing a compression format, etc. Theexamples described are not intended to be exhaustive and any number ofoperations may be performed on audio files associated with cells by anysuitable means, either automatically or by user selection.

Operation component 120 may further allow operations on a spreadsheetbased on attributes of audio files associated with a range of cells. Forexample, operations may include sort, filter, and conditionalformatting, as well as data cleaning operations, ETL (which stands forextract, transform, load, e.g. Power Query), and modelling (e.g. PowerPivot). In further examples, in response to receiving an indication toperform a sort or filter operation on a range of cells within aspreadsheet, operation component 120 may relocate cells within the rangeof cells based on audio attributes, e.g., based on duration, volume,pitch, channel, and the like. Additionally or alternatively, operationcomponent 120 may perform conditional formatting on the spreadsheetbased on audio attributes. For example, a heat map may be displayed overcells associated with audio files such that cells associated with audiofiles having a higher pitch may be turned redder, while cells associatedwith audio files having a lower pitch may be turned greener. In aspects,the conditional formatting may be customized by a user based on anyselected audio attribute. Mapping conditional formatting to pitch isanother example of structured data being used as an argument to an audiofunction. As should be appreciated, any number of audio attributes maybe associated with an audio file and operations may be performed on thespreadsheet based on any audio attribute surfaced (or identified) byattribute component 118, or otherwise.

UX component 122 may communicate with operation component 120 to provideone or more user interfaces for exposing available operations formanipulating audio data and/or audio attributes. As used herein, theterm “expose” refers to providing access for user selection and/orinput. Selections and/or inputs for operations may be received bygesture, touch, mouse input, keyboard input, etc. For example, UIcontrols may be provided for listening to an audio file from within aspreadsheet, e.g., UI controls such as “play,” “fast forward,” “stop,”“rewind,” and “pause.” Additionally, UX component 122 may provide UIcontrols for selecting fit and resize operations for performing on avisual representation of an audio file, as described above. UI controlsmay also be provided for changing a state of an audio file, for example,from anchored to floating or, conversely, from floating to anchored, andthe like. Additionally or alternatively, a visual representation of anaudio file may be “popped out” from background to being displayedindependently in a cell. Further, UI controls may be provided formanipulating audio data and/or audio attributes. For instance, UIcontrols may be provided for manipulating audio data, e.g., for splicingof an audio file, changing a compression format, etc., and UI controlsmay be provided for manipulating audio attributes, e.g., adjustingpitch, volume, speed, channel, resolution, and the like. As should beappreciated, UX component 122 may provide any number of user interfaces(e.g., dropdown menus, popup menus, ribbons, toolbars, etc.) forexposing operations to manipulate audio data and/or audio attributes.

For cells associated with more complex objects, e.g., an array of audiofiles or one or more audio files with additional data, UX component 122may provide additional functionality and UI controls. For instance, UIcontrols may be provided for selecting a layout (or alignment) between avisual representation of an audio file and additional data within asingle cell, e.g., a visual representation may be displayed above,below, to the right or left of, or wrapped by additional data, etc.Additionally, UX component 122 may display various views of dataassociated with a compound data type, e.g., display of data may varybased on cell size and/or various user interfaces may be provided. Forinstance, a minimal amount of data may be displayed in a small cell(e.g., an icon representation of the audio file), but successively moredata may be displayed as the cell is enlarged (e.g., waveformrepresentation of audio file, names of parties to a conversation, a texttranscription of the audio file, various audio attributes of the audiofile, etc.). Additionally or alternatively, UX component 122 may providea popup window for displaying data associated with the compound datatype and/or a settings tool bar for manipulating data associated withthe compound data type. As should be appreciated, UX component 122 mayretrieve and surface more or less data associated with a compound datatype based on user preference or selection.

Similarly, where multiple audio files are associated with a single cell,UX component 122 may provide a UI element for displaying an array ofaudio files. For example, in a default collapsed view (e.g., collapsedUI element), a visual representation of one of the array of audio filesmay be displayed within the cell. In some aspects, in the collapsedview, UX component 122 may provide a timer to cycle display of a visualrepresentation for each audio file within the cell. The collapsed UIelement may further include a visual indication that multiple audiofiles are associated with the cell (e.g., a stack indicator, scrollcontrol, etc.). In response to selection of a UI control (e.g., rightclick, button, menu, etc.), the collapsed view may expand to revealvisual representations for each of the array of audio files. Visualrepresentations for the array of audio files may be displayed within anexpanded UI element in any suitable arrangement (e.g., linear, carousel,grid, etc.) for viewing and interacting with the array of audio files.For instance, an audio file may be selected and removed from the arrayof audio files associated with a first cell and cut/pasted ordrag/dropped into a second cell, or an audio file may be deleted fromthe array altogether. In some cases, the whole array may be “spilled”into a range of cells, e.g., with each audio file spilling into (orbeing associated with) a different cell of the range of cells.Additionally, a new audio file may be added to an array of audio filesby opening the expanded UI element (e.g., by right click activation) andby inserting the new audio file into a selected position within thearray. As detailed above, any number of different user interfaces may beprovided by UX component 122 for viewing and/or manipulating audio data,audio attributes and/or additional data.

As should be appreciated, the various devices, components, etc.,described with respect to FIG. 1 are not intended to limit the systemsand methods to the particular components described. Accordingly,additional topology configurations may be used to practice the methodsand systems herein and/or some components described may be excludedwithout departing from the methods and systems disclosed herein.

FIG. 2 illustrates a method for associating one or more audio files withone or more cells of a spreadsheet, according to an example embodiment.

Method 200 begins with provide interface operation 202, where aspreadsheet application may provide (or cause to be provided) a userinterface to a user. For example, a UX component (e.g., UX component122) may facilitate a user experience (UX) by providing the userinterface of a spreadsheet application (e.g., spreadsheet application110) via a display. Selections and/or inputs may be received by the userinterface based on gestures, touch, mouse movements, keyboard input, andthe like. The user interface may operate in conjunction or communicationwith one or more other components of the spreadsheet application (e.g.,associate component 112, hybrid component 114, transcription component116, attribute component 118, and operation component 120) to associateone or more audio files with one or more cells of the spreadsheet.

At select cell operation 204, at least one cell of a spreadsheet may beselected, either automatically (e.g., based on a function) or by userselection. That is, in some aspects, operations may call (or select) acell without requiring user input, e.g., operations such as ‘datarefresh,’ ‘import from such and such data source,’ ‘copy paste,’ etc. Inother aspects, a spreadsheet application (e.g., spreadsheet application110) may provide the spreadsheet to a user, the spreadsheet includingone or more sheets, each sheet having a plurality of rows and columns ofcells. Cells may be selected by highlighting or otherwise identifyingthe cell or range of cells using a gesture, touch, mouse click, keyboardinput, and the like. When a single cell is selected, the cell may beidentified in a toolbar of the user interface by a cell identifier thatspecifies a location of the cell within the spreadsheet. For example, acell identifier of “A1” specifies that the cell is located in column A,row 1 of the spreadsheet, while a cell identifier of “B5” specifies thatthe cell located in column B, row 5 of the spreadsheet. The cellidentifier may further be displayed adjacent to a formula bar (or “fxbar”) identifying the contents of the cell in the toolbar of the userinterface. When a range of cells is selected, the cell at the top leftcorner of the range may be displayed by a cell identifier next to theformula bar, with the range of cells being represented by a rangeidentifier including cell identifiers for the cell at the top leftcorner and the cell at the bottom right corner (e.g., A1:C5).

At select audio file operation 206, a selection or indication toassociate at least one audio file may be received for association withthe at least one cell, either automatically (e.g., based on a function)or by user selection. That is, in some aspects, operations may call (orselect) an audio file for association with a cell without requiring userinput, e.g., operations such as ‘data refresh,’ ‘import from such andsuch data source,’ ‘copy paste,’ etc. In other aspects, a UX component(e.g., UX component 122) may provide a user interface for receiving theselection to associate the at least one audio file by a gesture, touch,mouse movement, keyboard input, and the like. In some aspects, inresponse to a selection of a cell (or a range of cells), a menu may beprovided for inserting or associating various objects (including audiofiles) with the selected cell (or range of cells). In still otheraspects, a user may select a textual document (or a range of values or amusical score), convert the textual document (or the range of values orthe musical score) to an audio file (e.g., by text-to-speechtranscription, a value-to-sound conversion algorithm, or musicaltranscription), may select the at least one cell and associate the audiofile with the selected cell. In still further aspects, a user mayindicate an intention to associate an audio file with a selected cell bymanually entering a function that references the audio file into aformula bar associated with the selected cell. As should be appreciated,the user interface may receive an indication to associate the at leastone audio file with the selected cell by any suitable means.

At associate audio file operation 208, the at least one audio file maybe associated with the selected cell of the spreadsheet. Associate audiofile operation 208 may be performed by an associate component (e.g.,associate component 112) of a spreadsheet application (e.g., spreadsheetapplication 110). As used herein, the term “associate” may include anyform of linking one or more audio files to one or more cells within aspreadsheet. In aspects, an audio file that is “associated” with a cellmay be treated as a value within the cell. In aspects, upon a selectionto associate the audio file with the selected cell, a menu may beprovided with various options for identifying a file locator for theaudio file. For example, the menu may provide for browsing a local filestructure or a remote storage location to identify a URL for the audiofile. Alternatively, a globally unique name for the audio file may beidentified. In further aspects, a menu may provide selections fordirectly embedding the audio file into the selected cell, for anchoringthe audio file to the cell or for referencing the audio file in a cell.

For example, a user may manually embed the at least one audio file inthe selected cell by drag/drop or copy/paste functions. In this case, aname of the audio file or, rather than a name, an interactive audio fileicon may be displayed in the formula bar. Additionally, a user mayanchor the audio file to the selected cell by entering a file locatorfor the audio file within a function, e.g.,fx=GETAUDIO(“C:\Music\favorites\song1.wav”) orfx=GETAUDIO(“http://www.music.com/90smix/song1.wav”) or by entering aunique name that is global to the spreadsheet, e.g.,fx=GETAUDIO(“song1.wav”). For example, a unique name for an audio filemay be referenced within a formula of the selected cell for performingan operation upon satisfaction of a condition (e.g., when revenue hits“X”, play referenced audio file). Alternatively, a user may associate anaudio file with a cell by selecting an “Insert” operation in the toolbarand using a dialog filtered to audio types to find and insert the audiofile. In that case, the formula for the cell may be“=GETAUDIO(song1.wav)”. Alternatively, an audio file may be identifiedwithout a formula, for instance, the name of the audio file may simplybe listed without the “=GETAUDIO” operator, e.g., “song1.wav” or“<Audio> song1.wav”. When more than one audio file is selected forassociation with a cell, the file locators for each audio file may berepresented within the function associated with the selected cell, e.g.,fx=GETAUDIO(“C:\Music\favorites\song1.wav”,“http://www.music.com/90smix/song1.wav”).

In some aspects, when the at least one audio file is anchored within theselected cell, a visual representation of the audio file may bedisplayed within the cell border and/or may be allowed to extend beyondthe cell border to overlay additional cells of the spreadsheet. Thevisual representation may also move with the selected cell whenoperations are performed on the spreadsheet. Additionally, fit and/orresize operations may be performed on the visual representation, eitherautomatically or by user selection. In other aspects, the at least oneaudio file may be associated by reference to a selected cell (e.g., byreferencing the globally unique name of the audio file within a functionassociated with the selected cell) such that operations may be performedon the audio file and/or operations may be performed on the spreadsheetbased on attributes of the audio file. However, in this case, the visualrepresentation of the audio file may or may not move with the selectedcell when operations are performed on the cell (e.g., sort, filter,etc.) but may float over the grid within the spreadsheet. In fact, insome cases, the visual representation may not be displayed within thespreadsheet at all, but the audio file may merely be referenced within afunction. As should be appreciated, one or more audio files may beassociated with one or more cells of a spreadsheet by any suitable meanssuch that the one or more audio files behave within the spreadsheetaccording to a user preference, which may be specified upon associatingthe one or more audio files or at some later time.

At retrieve parameters operation 210, audio data and/or audio attributes(collectively “parameters”) may be retrieved for the at least one audiofile associated with the selected cell. Retrieve parameters operation210 may be performed by an attribute component (e.g., attributecomponent 118) of a spreadsheet application (e.g., spreadsheetapplication 110). In some aspects, audio data may be retrieved from theaudio file and audio attributes may be retrieved from metadata appendedto the audio file. In other aspects, parameters (e.g., audio data, audioattributes, content attributes, additional data, layout attributes,etc.) may be retrieved from a data structure of a compound data type. Asshould be appreciated, once an audio file is associated with theselected cell, any number of parameters may be retrieved for theassociated audio file. In at least some aspects, the retrievedparameters may further be surfaced in a user interface or otherwise formanipulation by a user.

At enable operation 212, at least one operation may be enabled on one ormore parameters of the at least one audio file. In aspects, enableoperation 212 may be performed by an operation component (e.g.,operation component 120) of a spreadsheet application (e.g., spreadsheetapplication 110). A user interface may provide options for sizing avisual representation of the audio file and/or for sizing the selectedcell. For example, a user may select an option for fitting the visualrepresentation to a size of the cell or for fitting the selected cell tothe size of the visual representation. In some cases, by default, thesize of a cell (e.g., as defined by a cell height and a cell width) mayautomatically be fit to the size of the visual representation of anaudio file. In response to fitting the size of the selected cell to thevisual representation, sizes of additional cells within a row and/or acolumn associated with the selected cell may also be adjusted.Additionally, options may be provided for resizing a visualrepresentation when a cell is resized, for displaying more or less dataof a compound data type when a cell is resized, and the like.

As should be appreciated, at enable operation 212, additional operationsmay also be enabled. For example, the additional operations may includean option to change a state of an audio file, e.g., from anchored tofloating, from arrayed to spilled, from floating to anchored, and thelike. Options may also be provided for customizing various audioattributes. For instance, options for manipulating audio attributes suchas pitch, volume, channel, speed, and the like, may be provided in auser interface. The above examples are offered for purposes ofdescribing the aspects herein and should not be considered limiting.

Enable operation 212 may further enable spreadsheet operations to beperformed based on audio attributes and/or content attributes of the atleast one audio file associated with the selected cell. For example, arange of cells may be sorted or filtered based on audio attributes ofthe at least one audio file (e.g., sorted or filtered based on pitch,volume, creation date, file name, etc.) and/or content attributes (e.g.,names of speakers, word used most in conversation, etc.). As should beappreciated, any number of operations performed on the spreadsheet maybe performed based on audio attributes and/or content attributes of theassociated audio file.

At optional provide operation 214 (identified by dashed lines),additional functionality may be provided when a plurality of audio filesis associated with the selected cell. Optional provide operation 214 maybe performed by a UX component (e.g., UX component 122) of a spreadsheetapplication (e.g., spreadsheet application 110). This additionalfunctionality may be provided in response to a selection to associate aplurality of audio files with a selected cell (e.g., in a popup menu)and/or may be provided in a toolbar, ribbon, or otherwise, within theuser interface. In some aspects, display options for visualrepresentations of the plurality of audio files may be provided, e.g.,display configurations such as linear, carousel, grid, etc. In somecases, while the plurality of audio files may be associated with asingle cell, display of visual representations for the plurality ofaudio file may overlay additional cells of the spreadsheet. For example,in a linear configuration, visual representations may be displayedhorizontally (e.g., overlaying portions of a row or rows adjacent to ornear the associated cell(s)) or may be displayed vertically (e.g.,overlaying portions of a column or columns adjacent to or near theassociated cell(s)). In a grid or carousel configuration, visualrepresentations may overlay portions of a block of cells (e.g.,including both rows and columns) adjacent to or near the associatedcell(s). As should be appreciated, other configurations for displayingvisual representations for a plurality of audio files are possible.

In further aspects, at optional provide operation 214, a user interface(UI) element may be provided by a UX component (e.g., UX component 122)in order to display, interact with and/or manipulate the plurality ofaudio files. For example, the UI element may enable a collapsed view andan expanded view of visual representations for the plurality of audiofiles. In the collapsed view (collapsed UI element), less than all ofthe audio files may be represented within the selected cell at any onetime. The collapsed view may further provide a visual indication thatmultiple audio files are associated with the selected cell (e.g., astack indicator, scroll control, etc.). In some aspects, the collapsedUI element may further include a timer such that a visual representationof each audio file may cycle within the selected cell. To switch to anexpanded view, a UI control may be selected (e.g., by right click,button, menu, etc.) and the collapsed view may expand to reveal all ofthe plurality of audio files. In the expanded view, visualrepresentation for the plurality of audio files may be displayed in anysuitable arrangement (e.g., linear, carousel, grid, etc.) and mayoverlay additional cells of the spreadsheet for viewing and interactingwith the plurality of audio files. A user may interact with the expandedview by translating through the plurality of audio files to view, add,delete, edit, or otherwise manipulate audio files within the array.

As should be appreciated, operations 202-214 are described for purposesof illustrating the present methods and systems and are not intended tolimit the disclosure to a particular sequence of steps, e.g., steps maybe performed in differing order, additional steps may be performed, anddisclosed steps may be excluded without departing from the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates a method for associating one or more audio files andadditional data with one or more cells of a spreadsheet, according to anexample embodiment.

Method 300 begins with provide interface operation 302, where aspreadsheet application may provide (or cause to be provided) a userinterface to a user. For example, similar to provide interface operation202, a UX component may facilitate a user experience (UX) by providing auser interface (UI) of a spreadsheet application via a display.Selections and/or inputs may be received by the user interface based ongestures, touch, mouse movements, keyboard input, and the like.Additionally, the user interface may operate in conjunction orcommunication with one or more other components of the spreadsheetapplication (e.g., associate component 112, hybrid component 114,transcription component 116, attribute component 118, and operationcomponent 120) to associate one or more audio files and additional datawith one or more cells of the spreadsheet.

At select cell operation 304, similar to select cell operation 204, atleast one cell may be selected, either automatically (e.g., based on afunction) or by user selection. In some aspects, operations may call (orselect) a cell without requiring user input, e.g., operations such as‘data refresh,’ ‘import from such and such data source’, ‘copy paste,’etc. In other aspects, a spreadsheet application may provide aspreadsheet to a user, the spreadsheet including one or more sheets,each sheet having a plurality of rows and columns of cells. Cells may beselected by highlighting or otherwise identifying the cell or range ofcells using a gesture, touch, mouse click, keyboard input, and the like.For instance, when a single cell is selected, the cell may be identifiedin a toolbar of the user interface by a cell identifier that specifies alocation of the cell within the spreadsheet. The cell identifier mayfurther be displayed adjacent to a formula bar (or “fx bar”) identifyingthe contents of the cell. Alternatively, when a range of cells isselected, the cell at the top left corner of the range may be displayedby a cell identifier next to the formula bar, with the range of cellsbeing represented by a range identifier including the cell identifiersfor the cell at the top left corner and the cell at the bottom rightcorner.

At select audio file operation 306, similar to select audio fileoperation 206, a selection or indication to associate at least one audiofile with the selected cell may be received, either automatically (e.g.,based on a function) or by user selection. That is, in some aspects,operations may call (or select) at least one audio file for associationwith a cell without requiring user input, e.g., operations such as ‘datarefresh,’ ‘import from such and such data source,’ ‘copy paste,’ etc. Inother aspects, a UX component may provide a user interface for receivingthe selection to associate the audio file by a gesture, touch, mousemovement, keyboard input, and the like. In some aspects, in response toa selection of a cell, a menu may be provided for inserting orassociating various objects (including audio files) with the selectedcell. In other aspects, a user may indicate an intention to associateone or more audio files with a selected cell by manually entering afunction referencing the one or more audio files into a formula barassociated with the selected cell. In still other aspects, a user mayselect a textual document (or a musical score), convert the textualdocument (or the musical score) to an audio file (e.g., bytext-to-speech transcription or musical transcription), may select theat least one cell and associate the audio file with the selected cell.In still further aspects, a user may open a mobile version of thespreadsheet application, may select the at least one cell and may recorda sound using a microphone on the mobile device. In this case, an audiofile representative of the recorded sound may automatically be selectedfor association with the cell. In other cases, a user may record a soundfirst and then open the mobile spreadsheet application to associate therecorded sound with a cell of the spreadsheet. As should be appreciated,the user interface may receive an indication to associate one or moreaudio files with one or more cells by any suitable means.

At associate audio file operation 308, similar to associate audio fileoperation 208, the at least one audio file may be associated with theselected cell of the spreadsheet. In aspects, upon a selection toassociate an audio file with the selected cell, a menu may be providedwith various options for identifying a file locator for the audio file.For example, the menu may provide for browsing a local file structure ora remote storage location to identify a URL for the audio file.Alternatively, a globally unique name for the audio file may beidentified. In further aspects, a menu may provide selections foranchoring the audio file to the cell or for referencing the audio filein a cell. As described above, an audio file may be associated with acell by any suitable means.

At receive data operation 310, data may be received in addition to theat least one audio file selected for association with the cell. In someaspects, a UX component of a spreadsheet application may provide a userinterface for receiving the additional data (e.g., by attachment, directentry into a text box, copy/paste, drag/drop, etc.). In other aspects,the additional data may be a text transcription or a musicaltranscription of the audio file received from a transcription componentof the spreadsheet application. In still other aspects, the additionaldata may be input into the selected cell (or the formula bar associatedwith the selected cell), or the additional data may be a numeric valueresulting from a function associated with the selected cell. In somecases, the additional data may include alphanumeric data (e.g., textualdata, numeric data, formulas, and the like). Alternatively, additionaldata may include charts, videos, audio files, or any other type of data.As should be appreciated, the additional data may comprise any data inany format.

In some aspects, the additional data may describe or be related to thecontent of the at least one audio file and may be represented byattribute-value pairs (e.g., content attributes). For instance,referring back to the example of an audio file of a recordedconversation, additional data may include attribute-value pairs such as“speaker 1—Charles”; “speaker 2—Sarah”; “duration 1—10:03 minutes”; and“duration 2—3:07 minutes”; etc. As well, the additional data may bedescribed by formatting attributes that may be represented byattribute-value pairs, e.g., “font size—11 pt.”; “font color—red”;“font—Calibri”; etc. In other aspects, the additional data may notnecessarily be represented by attribute-value pairs. For instance, theadditional data may be a single numeric value that is the output of aformula (e.g., total revenue value, sum of a range of cell values,average value over a range of cell values, etc.). In still otheraspects, additional data may be represented as an array or vector ofdata, as well as any other primitive type (strings, numbers, etc.).Additionally, layout attributes may define a relative arrangement and/ordynamic display of audio data, audio attributes and additional data. Forinstance, layout attributes may also be defined by attribute-valuepairs, e.g., “alignment—top” or “progressive display—1”, etc.

At optional create operation 312 (identified by dashed lines), acompound data type may be created to include the selected one or moreaudio files and the additional data. For example, a hybrid component(e.g., hybrid component 114) of a spreadsheet application (e.g.,spreadsheet application 110) may associate the additional data and theone or more audio files in a structured manner, such as an array,record, or table. As noted above, in some cases, the additional data mayinclude content attributes (which may be described in terms ofattribute-value pairs) and may be defined by formatting attributes(which may also be described in terms of attribute-value pairs).Additionally, audio attributes may be represented in terms ofattribute-value pairs and/or attribute-type pairs. In this case, acompound data type may be created, including the audio data (e.g.,modulated data) with audio attributes (e.g., described byattribute-value pairs and/or attribute-type pairs), additional data(e.g., including content attributes and/or formatting attributesdescribed by attribute-value pairs) and/or layout attributes (e.g.,described in terms of attribute-value pairs) in a structured format. Insome aspects, the compound data type may not include actual datarepresenting one or more of the audio data, audio attributes, additionaldata and/or layout attributes, but the compound data type may include anarray of fields with references or pointers to the actual data, whichmay be stored as a record in any suitable database or otherwise. Asshould be appreciated, different types of data (e.g., chart data, videodata, image data, etc.) may be described by different sets ofattribute-value pairs, but may also be represented within the structuredformat of a compound data type.

At optional associate operation 314 (identified by dashed lines),similar to associate audio file operations 208 and 308, the compounddata type may be associated with the selected cell of the spreadsheet.In some aspects, optional associate operation 314 may replace associateaudio file operation 308. That is, in some cases, the audio file may notbe associated with the selected cell prior to receiving additional data,but both the audio file and the additional data may be associated withthe selected cell at the same time as a compound data type. As detailedabove, the term “associate” may include any form of linking the compounddata type to the selected cell (or a range of cells) within aspreadsheet. In aspects, a compound data type that is “associated” witha cell may be treated as a plurality of values within the cell.

For example, the compound data type may be anchored within the selectedcell (or a range of cells). In this case, file locator for the compounddata type may be inserted into the formula bar associated with theselected cell or range of cells. When a compound data type is anchoredto a cell, the compound data type (i.e., the audio file and theadditional data represented by the compound data type) may move with thecell (or range of cells) when operations are performed on thespreadsheet. In further aspects, the compound data type may bereferenced within the selected cell but may be allowed to float over thegrid. In this case, operations may be performed on the compound datatype and/or operations may be performed on the spreadsheet based on thecompound data type, but a visual representation of the audio file andthe additional data may or may not move with the selected cell. Asshould be appreciated, a compound data type may be associated with acell or a range of cells by any suitable means.

At display operation 316, the additional data and a visualrepresentation of the at least one audio file may be displayed. Forexample, when a visual representation of the audio file is associated asfill (or background) for a cell or a range of cells, the additional datamay be displayed over the visual representation. In some cases, acontrast between the visual representation and the additional data maybe manipulated to optimize visibility of the additional data, eitherautomatically or by user selection. Alternatively, when the visualrepresentation is not associated as fill for the selected cell, theadditional data and the visual representation may be arranged within thecell in any suitable alignment or layout. As should be appreciated, theadditional data and the visual representation may be displayed accordingto any suitable alignment or layout, either automatically or based onuser selection.

Additionally, at display operation 316, a visual representation of theaudio file and the additional data may be fit to the cell size or theselected cell may be fit to a size appropriate for the visualrepresentation and the additional data. In some cases, the amount ofdata associated with the compound data type that is displayed may bebased on the cell size, and as a cell is resized, the amount of datadisplayed may dynamically change. Alternatively, a visual representationof the audio file and the additional data may be allowed to overlayadditional cells of the spreadsheet. The above examples are provided forpurposes of explanation only and should not be understood as limiting.

As should be appreciated, operations 302-316 are described for purposesof illustrating the present methods and systems and are not intended tolimit the disclosure to a particular sequence of steps, e.g., steps maybe performed in differing order, additional steps may be performed, anddisclosed steps may be excluded without departing from the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method for exposing one or more operations based onone or more audio files associated with cells of a spreadsheet,according to an example embodiment.

Method 400 begins with provide interface operation 402, where aspreadsheet application may provide (or cause to be provided) a userinterface to a user. For example, similar to provide interfaceoperations 202 and 302, a UX component may facilitate a user experience(UX) by providing a user interface (UI) of a spreadsheet application viaa display. Selections and/or inputs may be received by the userinterface based on gestures, touch, mouse movements, keyboard input, andthe like. Additionally, the user interface may operate in conjunction orcommunication with one or more other components of the spreadsheetapplication (e.g., associate component 112, hybrid component 114,transcription component 116, attribute component 118, and operationcomponent 120) to manipulate one or more audio files associated with oneor more cells of a spreadsheet.

At select cell operation 404, at least one cell having at least oneassociated audio file may be selected, either automatically (e.g., basedon a function) or by user selection. In some aspects, operations maycall (or select) a cell without requiring user input, e.g., operationssuch as ‘data refresh,’ ‘import from such and such data source’, ‘copypaste,’ etc. As detailed above, in other aspects, a spreadsheetapplication may display a spreadsheet to a user, the spreadsheetincluding one or more sheets, each sheet having a plurality of rows andcolumns of cells. Cells having one or more associated audio files may beselected by highlighting or otherwise identifying the cell or range ofcells using a gesture, touch, mouse click, keyboard input, and the like.When a single cell is selected, the cell may be identified next to aformula bar of the user interface by a cell identifier that specifies alocation of the cell within the spreadsheet. When a range of cells isselected, the cell at the top left corner of the range may be displayedby a cell identifier next to the formula bar, with the range of cellsbeing represented by a range identifier including cell identifiers forthe cell at the top left corner and the cell at the bottom right corner.

At retrieve parameters operation 406, one or more parameters may beretrieved for the at least one audio file associated with the selectedcell or range of cells. In aspects, retrieve parameters operation 406may be performed by an attribute component of a spreadsheet application.For example, in response to selecting a cell having at least oneassociated audio file, audio data and/or audio attributes associatedwith the audio file may be identified. As noted above, an audio file maybe defined by audio data (e.g., modulated data for reproducing recordedsound) and audio attributes (e.g., pitch, volume, resolution, bitrate,codec, creation date and/or time, file name, duration, file size, etc.).In aspects, audio attributes may be appended as metadata to an audiofile comprising audio data. In this case, audio data may be extracted(e.g., retrieved) from an audio file and audio attributes may beextracted (e.g., retrieved) from metadata associated with the audiofile.

In some cases, a compound data type may be associated with the selectedcell. In this case, retrieve parameters operation 406 may retrieve oneor more parameters for the associated audio file and/or additional datafrom the compound data type. For instance, audio data (e.g., modulateddata for reproducing recorded sound), audio attributes (e.g., pitch,volume, resolution, bitrate, codec, creation date and/or time, filename, duration, file size, etc.), additional data (e.g., data describingthe content of the audio file), formatting attributes (e.g., formattingfor the additional data) and/or layout attributes (e.g., regardinglayout between the visual representation and additional data) may beretrieved from the compound data type.

At optional surface parameters operation 408 (identified by dashedlines), the audio data, audio attributes, additional data (e.g.,including content and/or formatting attributes) and/or layout attributes(e.g., collectively “parameters”) retrieved may be “surfaced” such thatthe parameters may be presented to a user in a readable format. Inaspects, a user interface may be provided for presenting some or all ofthe identified parameters. For instance, a settings toolbar (e.g.,settings toolbar 1018) may be provided that includes a number of tabsfor viewing and manipulating various audio attributes. In one example,an audio settings tab may display audio attributes such as “pitch,”“volume,” “speed,” “channel,” etc. In another example, an audioprocessing tab may display audio attributes such as “codec,” “bitrate,”as well as an option to “splice” the audio file. In other examples, tabsassociated with the settings toolbar may provide other audio attributes,such as “resolution,” “creation date/time,” “file size,” “duration,” andthe like. In some cases, e.g., where both an audio file and additionaldata are associated with a single cell, the settings toolbar may displaycontent and/or formatting attributes for the additional data such asvoice recognition data, sound recognition data, duration for eachspeaker in a conversation, audio clips for each speaker, time stamps foreach speaker, etc. Additionally, layout attributes between a visualrepresentation of the audio file and the additional data may bedisplayed, such as contrast, alignment, background opacity ortransparency, and the like. As should be appreciated, any parameteridentified by retrieve parameters operation 406 may be displayed in anysuitable interface.

At optional transcribe operation 410 (identified by dashed lines), theat least one audio file may be transcribed, e.g., by a transcriptioncomponent of a spreadsheet application. For example, the audio file maybe converted into alphanumeric or symbolic data, either automatically orby user selection. In some aspects, the audio file may be transcribed bya service in communication with spreadsheet application 110. In otheraspects, the audio file may be transcribed locally. An audio file ofspeech may be converted into a text transcription, including a textualrepresentation of each word or sound in the audio file; alternative, anaudio file of music may be converted into a musical transcription,including musical notes, bars, frames, and/or musical notations,representing the music of the audio file. In further aspects, the audiofile may be converted into any suitable data format.

At expose operation 412, one or more operations may be exposed to auser. The one or more operations may include operations for manipulatingparameters of the audio file (or additional data) and/or operations forperforming manipulations of the spreadsheet based at least in part onthe one or more parameters. For example, UI controls (e.g., +/−controls)or input fields may be provided for manipulating the one or moreparameters, e.g., the audio attributes detailed above. In this regard, auser may directly input values to adjust audio attributes up or downbased on user preference. For instance, with reference to audioattributes displayed by the settings tab, the values for “pitch,”“volume,” “speed,” and/or “channel,” may be adjusted by direct inputand/or adjusted up or down using +/−controls. Additionally oralternatively, a “reset” button may be provided to return adjustedparameters back to an original version of the audio file. As should beappreciated, the above examples of parameters are not exhaustive and anyparameter may be surfaced and adjusted based on one or more exposedoperations.

In further examples, at expose operation 412, one or more operations formanipulating the spreadsheet based at least in part on the retrievedparameters may be exposed to a user. For example, in response toselection of a range of cells, a user interface may provide options forfiltering or sorting the range of cells based on one or more parametersof associated audio files. For example, the range of cells may be sortedbased on audio attributes such as durations of associated audio files(e.g., “Sort Longest to Shortest” or “Sort Shortest to Longest”),pitches of associated audio files (e.g., “Sort Highest to Lowest” or“Sort Lowest to Highest”), creation dates of associated audio files(e.g., “Sort Newest to Oldest” or “Sort Oldest to Newest”), one or morespeakers in the audio files (e.g., alphabetically by speaker), and thelike. Options for filtering the range of cells may similarly be based onone or more parameters of associated audio files. As described above, anaudio file may be defined by audio data (e.g., modulated data) and audioattributes (e.g., pitch, volume, speed, channel, creation date and/ortime, file name, file size, etc.). In aspects, the range of cells may besorted based on any identifiable audio attribute of associated audiofiles.

At receive selection operation 414, a selection of one or moreoperations may be received. For instance, a selection may be receivedfor manipulating any of the parameters identified herein (e.g., theaudio attributes detailed above). In this case, a user may select toadjust a setting, perform audio processing functions, adjust a value ofan audio attribute, view or manipulate additional data, and the like.Additionally or alternatively, a selection may be received to perform anoperation on a range of cells based at least in part on parameters ofaudio files associated with the range of cells, as described above. Aselection may be received as direct input, activation of a control, orotherwise. The selection may be received in the form of a gesture,touch, mouse click, keyboard input, or otherwise. As should beappreciated, a selection to perform one or more operations on an audiofile or additional data associated with a cell, or one or moreoperations on a range of cells based on parameters of associated audiofiles, may be received by any suitable means.

At perform operation 416, one or more operations may be performed. Forinstance, an operation may be performed on an audio file and/oradditional data associated with a selected cell. Alternatively, anoperation on a range of cells may be performed based on parameters ofaudio files and/or additional data associated with the range of cells.Indeed, any of the operations described herein may be selected andperformed. In aspects, a cell preview may further be provided such thatchanges may be viewed as they are implemented. Based on the preview, auser may “accept” changes before they are implemented. In this regard, auser may manipulate display of a visual representation and/or additionaldata associated with a cell, manipulate one or more parametersassociated with an audio file, manipulate the spreadsheet based onparameters of the audio file, etc.

As should be appreciated, operations 402-416 are described for purposesof illustrating the present methods and systems and are not intended tolimit the disclosure to a particular sequence of steps, e.g., steps maybe performed in differing order, additional steps may be performed, anddisclosed steps may be excluded without departing from the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 5A illustrates an interface showing one or more audio filesassociated with one or more cells of a spreadsheet, according to anexample embodiment.

As illustrated, an interface 500 of a spreadsheet application isprovided. Interface 500 includes a spreadsheet 502, a navigation ribbon504 (including a cell identifier 506 and a formula bar 508), and atoolbar 510. Interface 500 further includes a plurality of tabs 512 foraccessing various aspects and operations of the spreadsheet application.As illustrated, cell D3 is selected, as indicated by thickened and/orcolored outlining of the cell border of cell D3. However, a selection ofa cell may be indicated by any suitable means, such as highlighting,shading, perceived three-dimensional enlargement, and the like. Asshown, a cell identifier 506 (e.g., “D3”) for the selected cell isdisplayed in navigation ribbon 504. Additionally, formula bar 508displays a function calling a file locator, e.g.,fx=GETAUDIO(“C:\Depos\Key\20131203.wav”,) for the audio file (i.e.,audio file 514) displayed within cell D3.

In some aspects, upon hovering over an audio file, various audioattributes associated with the audio file may be displayed (e.g., in apopup window) (not shown). For example, upon hovering over audio file514, a popup window may display the following audio attributes (notshown): name: depo1; type: WAV; size: 1.13 MB; created: Dec. 3, 2013;duration: 04:57.

As further illustrated, a visual representation 536 of audio file 514 isdisplayed in cell D3. As detailed above, a visual representation of anaudio file may be provided as any suitable identifier of an audio file,e.g., a waveform rendering (shown), a speaker icon (not shown), a playicon (not shown), a special icon with metadata (not shown), a file name(not shown), etc. In this case, visual representation 536 is “fit” tocell D3, e.g., visual representation 536 is bounded by the cell borderof cell D3. Additionally, as compared to default-sized cells A1-A3 andB1-B3, cell D3 has been resized such that both a cell height and a cellwidth have been increased to accommodate visual representation 536.Similarly, each cell associated with column D (i.e., column 534) androws 3-5 (rows 522, 524 and 526, respectively) has been resized toincrease a cell height and a cell width so as to accommodate visualrepresentation 536 in cell D3, visual representation 538 in cell D4, andvisual representation 540 in cell D5.

FIG. 5A also illustrates a play control 520 displayed over visualrepresentation 540 of audio file 518. In response to activating playcontrol 520, audio file 518 may be played. Similarly, play controls aredisplayed over visual representations 536 and 538 for playing audiofiles 514 and 516, respectively. As further illustrated by FIG. 5A,additional data describing audio files 514, 516 and 518 is stored incells within adjacent rows and/or columns. For example, in column A(i.e., column 528), cells A3, A4 and A5 contain data regarding thedeposition “dates” of the depositions recorded in audio files 514, 516,and 518, respectively. In column B (i.e., column 530), cells B3, B4 andB5 contain data regarding the “location” of the depositions recorded inaudio files 514, 516 and 518, respectively. In column C (i.e., column532), cells C3, C4 and C5 contain data regarding the “deponent” of thedepositions recorded in audio files 514, 516 and 518, respectively.

In further aspects, as illustrated by FIG. 5A, an audio file in one cellmay be referenced by another cell. For instance, the function associatedwith cell G4 may be “fx=D3”. In this case, the audio file 514represented in cell D3 is associated with cell G4 as audio file 542. Asillustrated, visual representation 544 of audio file 542 is “fithorizontally” and aligned at the top of cell G4. As shown, audio file514 in cell D3 is located by a URL in local storage (e.g.,“C:\Depos\Key\20131203.wav”). Based on the function in cell G4 (e.g.,“=D3”), the audio file 542 associated with visual representation 544 islocated by the same URL. In still further aspects, an audio file in acell may be referenced in a function and may be displayed and/or playedonly when a condition of the function is satisfied.

As should be appreciated, the various devices, components, etc.,described with respect to FIG. 5A are not intended to limit the systemsand methods to the particular components described. Accordingly,additional topology configurations may be used to practice the methodsand systems herein and/or some components described may be excludedwithout departing from the methods and systems disclosed herein.

FIG. 5B illustrates an interface showing play controls for listening toone or more audio files associated with one or more cells of aspreadsheet, according to an example embodiment.

Similar to FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B shows interface 500 of a spreadsheetapplication including spreadsheet 502 and navigation ribbon 504, whichincludes cell identifier 506 and formula bar 508. As illustrated, cellD5 is selected, as indicated by thickened and/or colored outlining ofthe cell border of cell D5. As shown, a cell identifier 506 (e.g., “D5”)for the selected cell is displayed in navigation ribbon 504.Additionally, formula bar 508 displays a function calling a filelocator, e.g., fx=GETAUDIO(“C:\Depos\Block\20131207.wav”), for the audiofile (i.e., audio file 518) displayed within cell D5. In some aspects,in response to hovering over play control 520, play bar 546 may bedisplayed. As illustrated, play bar 546 provides additional controls forlistening to audio file 518. For instance, in order from left to right,icons for “fast rewind” (or “skip back”), “rewind,” “pause,” “play,” and“fast forward” (or “skip forward”) are displayed on play bar 546. Inaspects, play bar 546 may provide any suitable controls for listening toaudio file 518 and the displayed controls are not intended to limit thesystems or methods described herein.

As should be appreciated, the various devices, components, etc.,described with respect to FIG. 5B are not intended to limit the systemsand methods to the particular components described. Accordingly,additional topology configurations may be used to practice the methodsand systems herein and/or some components described may be excludedwithout departing from the methods and systems disclosed herein.

FIG. 5C illustrates an interface showing an outcome of a spreadsheetoperation performed on a range of cells associated with a plurality ofaudio files in a spreadsheet, according to an example embodiment.

Similar to FIGS. 5A-5B, FIG. 5C shows interface 500 of a spreadsheetapplication including spreadsheet 502 and navigation ribbon 504, whichincludes cell identifier 506 and formula bar 508. In this case, a rangeof cells 548 (e.g., A3:D5) is shown as selected (e.g., by shading) andthe cell at the top left corner of the range (i.e., cell A3) isidentified by cell identifier 506 (e.g., “A3”) in the navigation pane504. Additionally, the contents of cell A3 (e.g., date “Dec. 7, 2013”)is displayed in formula bar 508.

As detailed above, when audio files are associated with cells of aspreadsheet application, operations performed on the spreadsheet, e.g.,sort and filter operations, may also operate on the audio files. Asillustrated, a sort operation was performed on range 548 in which thedata associated with cells in column 528 (i.e., cells A3, A4 and A5) wasreverse chronologically sorted and reordered such that the date “Dec. 7,2013” is now displayed in the top row of the range (e.g., row 522) abovethe date “Dec. 4, 2013,” which is displayed above the date “Dec. 3,2013.” As further illustrated, after performing the sort operation, dataand audio files associated with cells A3:D5 within the range 548maintained relationships within their respective rows.

For example, cells including data relating to the date “Dec. 7, 2013”were also reordered to the top row (e.g., row 522) of the range 548.That is, the cell including alphanumeric data “Detroit,” the cellincluding alphanumeric data “Ms. Block,” and the cell including audiofile 518 have also been reordered from row 526 to row 522 in response tothe sort operation. Similarly, the cell including date “Dec. 3, 2013,”the cell including alphanumeric data “Chicago,” the cell includingalphanumeric data “Mr. Key,” and the cell including audio file 514 havebeen reordered from row 522 to row 526 in response to the sortoperation. As should be appreciated, previous ordering of the data incell A4 with respect to data within cells A3 and A5, as well as reversechronological reordering of the data within cells A3-A5, place date“Dec. 4, 2013” within row 524 in both cases. Accordingly, the cellincluding alphanumeric data “Chicago,” the cell including alphanumericdata “Mr. Key,” and the cell including audio file 516 remain in row 524following the sort operation.

Thus, as illustrated by FIG. 5C and disclosed herein, audio filesassociated with cells of a spreadsheet move with the cells whenoperations are performed on the spreadsheet. In this regard, audio filesmay move with associated cells and behave predictably (i.e., maintainestablished relationships with the data in other cells) when operationsare performed on the spreadsheet.

As should be appreciated, the various devices, components, etc.,described with respect to FIG. 5C are not intended to limit the systemsand methods to the particular components described. Accordingly,additional topology configurations may be used to practice the methodsand systems herein and/or some components described may be excludedwithout departing from the methods and systems disclosed herein.

FIG. 5D illustrates an interface showing a UI element for viewing andinteracting with a plurality of audio files associated with a cell in aspreadsheet, according to an example embodiment.

Similar to FIGS. 5A-5C, FIG. 5D shows interface 500 of a spreadsheetapplication including spreadsheet 502 and navigation ribbon 504, whichincludes cell identifier 506 and formula bar 508. As illustrated, cellD5 is selected, as indicated by thickened and/or colored outlining ofthe cell border of cell D5. As shown, a cell identifier 506 (e.g., “D5”)for the selected cell is displayed in navigation ribbon 504.Additionally, formula bar 508 displays a function calling a plurality ofaudio files, e.g., fx=GETAUDIO(“C:\Depos\Block\20131207.wav”,“C:\Depos\Block\20131207\track1.wav”,“C:\Depos\Block\20131207\track2.wav”,“C:\Depos\Block\20131207\track3.wav”,“C:\Depos\Block\20131207\track4.wav”), associated with cell D5.

FIG. 5D illustrates audio file 518 with stack identifier 548. Asdetailed above, stack identifier 548 indicates that a plurality of audiofiles is associated with cell D5. In some aspects, the stack identifier548 may be activated to launch user interface 550 for displaying and/orinteracting with each of the plurality of audio files. As illustrated,user interface 550 displays each of the plurality of audio filesassociated with cell D5 in a grid configuration. As detailed above, userinterface 550 may display the plurality of audio files in any suitableconfiguration, e.g., linear, carousel, etc. User interface 550 mayfurther provide options for performing operations on the plurality ofaudio files. For instance, a “Delete” option may be provided forremoving one or more audio files from the array. In aspects, in responseto selection of the “Delete” option, a secondary interface may open forselecting one or more of the audio files for removal from the array and,in some cases, a confirmation to remove the selected one or more audiofiles. User interface 550 may also provide an “Insert” option for addingone or more audio files to the array. Translation control 554 enables auser to translate through the audio files to a position (identified byplace marker 552) for inserting a new audio file. In aspects, inresponse to selection of the “Insert” option, a secondary interface mayopen for finding and associating file locator(s) for the new audiofile(s) with the selected cell.

User interface 550 may further provide an “Edit” option for manipulatingone or more audio files of the array. In aspects, in response toselection of the “Edit” option, a secondary formatting interface mayopen for surfacing one or more audio attributes for the plurality ofaudio files, for example, similar to settings toolbar 1018 illustratedby FIG. 10. Additionally, the secondary formatting interface may exposeone or more operations, enabling a user to manipulate audio data and/oraudio attributes of the plurality of audio files. User interface 550 mayalso include a “Set timer” option for cycling display of a visualrepresentation for each of the plurality of audio files one at a timewithin cell D5. In aspects, the timer may cycle on a default schedule inresponse to selection of the “Set timer” option. Alternatively, inresponse to selection of the “Set timer” option, a secondary timerinterface may open to set a custom cycle time. In some aspects, the “Settimer” option may also provide animation features for cycling, such asfade out and the like.

In still further aspects, a “Spill” option may be provided by userinterface 550. The Spill option may allow a user to “spill” the array ofaudio files into separate cells. For example, upon selection of theSpill option, a secondary interface may open for selecting a range ofcells into which the array of audio files should be spilled. In aspects,each audio file of the array of audio files may be spilled and thenassociated with a cell among the range of selected cells. In alternativeoptions (not shown), a range of cells having associated audio files maybe selected and an option to condense the audio files into an array forassociation with a single cell may be provided. The above examples ofoptions for viewing and interacting with a plurality of audio files arenot intended to be exhaustive and should not be understood to belimiting.

As should be appreciated, the various devices, components, etc.,described with respect to FIG. 5D are not intended to limit the systemsand methods to the particular components described. Accordingly,additional topology configurations may be used to practice the methodsand systems herein and/or some components described may be excludedwithout departing from the methods and systems disclosed herein.

FIG. 6A illustrates an interface showing a popup menu for performingtranscription, according to an example embodiment.

As illustrated, an interface 600 of a spreadsheet application isprovided. Interface 600 includes a spreadsheet 602, a navigation ribbon604 (including a cell identifier 606 and a formula bar 608), and atoolbar 610. Interface 600 further includes a plurality of tabs 612 foraccessing various aspects and operations of the spreadsheet application.As illustrated, cell D5 is selected, as indicated by thickened and/orcolored outlining of the cell border of cell D5. However, a selection ofa cell may be indicated by any suitable means, such as highlighting,shading, perceived three-dimensional enlargement, and the like. Cell D5may be selected by clicking the cell, placing a cursor in the cell,touching the cell, etc., for purposes of entering data (e.g., formulas,textual data, numeric data, etc.) or objects (e.g., images, charts,videos, audio files, compound data types, and the like) into the cell.As shown, a cell identifier 606 (e.g., “D5”) for the selected cell isdisplayed in navigation ribbon 604. Additionally, formula bar 608displays a function calling a file locator, e.g.,fx=GETAUDIO(“C:\Depos\Block\20131207.wav”), for the audio file (i.e.,audio file 618) displayed within cell D5.

In aspects, upon selecting a cell including an associated audio file(e.g., audio file 618), a popup menu 614 (or other interface) may beprovided for manipulating the audio file or other data in the selectedcell. In other aspects, popup menu 614 may be provided in response toadditional input (e.g., right click, hover over, etc.). Popup menu 614may provide any number of options for adding content and/or manipulatingdata or objects associated with a selected cell. As illustrated, popupmenu 614 provides options including “Cut,” “Copy” and “Paste.” In thiscase, data or objects may be cut from a cell, copied in a cell and/orpasted to a cell.

Additionally, popup menu 614 provides transcribe option 616, which isselected as evidenced by shading. As detailed above, a transcriptioncomponent (e.g., transcription component 116) associated with aspreadsheet application (e.g., spreadsheet application 110) may operatein various ways to convert an audio file into alphanumeric or symbolicdata and/or to create an audio file from alphanumeric or symbolic data.In response to selection of transcribe option 616, a secondary popupmenu 620 may be displayed. Secondary popup menu 620 may provide a numberof options for transcription, for example, “Speech to Text,” “Text toSpeech,” “Music to Score,” or “Score to Music,” etc. As illustrated, the“Speech to Text” option 622 has been selected (e.g., evidenced byshading). For example, an audio file including speech may be convertedinto a text transcription (e.g., “Speech to Text”), which is a textualrepresentation of each word or sound in the audio file. Conversely, atextual document may be converted into an audio file (e.g., “Text toSpeech”), e.g., spoken words may be generated that correspond to thetext of the document. In further aspects, an audio file of music may betranscribed into a musical score (e.g., “Music to Score”), includingmusical notes, bars, frames, and/or musical notations, representing themusic of the audio file. Alternatively, a musical score may be convertedby optical character recognition (OCR) into an audio file (e.g., “Scoreto Music”) encoding data for producing sound waves representative of themusical score.

Alternatively, a function may calculate a translation from musical scorefor piano to a musical score for saxophone (e.g., a scale and notetranslation may result in new values for each note in the music, wherethe ‘result’ is the new score). In further aspects, e.g., for low visionusers, data within cells of the spreadsheet may be transcribed (e.g.,“Text to Speech”) and the data may be “played” for the user at any time.In this regard, a spreadsheet may be converted into speech on acell-by-cell basis, by groups of cells, or globally across thespreadsheet. To further improve user experience, particularly for lowvision users, the spreadsheet may be customized to associate sounds withcolors, numbers, trends, or any other aspect of a spreadsheet.Similarly, by transcribing alphanumeric or other data into an audio file(e.g., “Text to Speech”) and associating the audio file with a cell, aspreadsheet application becomes able to read its own data. For instance,when a condition is met within the spreadsheet (e.g., a revenue numberhits a threshold value, or orders for a product hit a threshold number,etc.), an audio file may be generated and sent in an email, voicemail,text, etc., or may be associated with the spreadsheet such that theaudio file plays the next time the spreadsheet application is opened.The audio file may be a notification (e.g., revenue hit “x”), a reminder(e.g., orders hit 500 units, remember to order boxes for shipping), anencouragement (e.g., “Way to go!” sent to a sales team upon hittingsales goal), or any other message. As should be appreciated,transcription may include converting an audio file into alphanumeric orsymbolic data and/or creating an audio file from alphanumeric orsymbolic data according to any suitable means.

Additionally, popup menu 614 includes an option to “Insert.” The“Insert” option may enable a user to associate data, audio files orother objects with a selected cell. In a first example, upon selectionof the “Insert” option, a menu may provide for associating an audio fileby browsing a file structure to identify a file locator for an audiofile. In a second example, e.g., where at least one audio file isalready associated with the cell, upon selection of the “Insert” option,a UI element may open that displays the at least one audio file alreadyassociated with the cell. The UI element may further enable a user toscroll through a plurality of associated audio files and add an audiofile in a selected position within the plurality of associated audiofiles. In a third example, where data and/or an audio file are alreadyassociated with the cell, upon selection of the “Insert” option, a UIelement may open that enables a user to add data and/or an audio file(or other object) to the selected cell. In some cases, a compound datatype may be created to insert the additional data and/or audio file tothe selected cell. Alternatively, a compound data type may already existand the additional data and/or audio file may be added to the compounddata type. As should be appreciated, additional examples are possibleand the above examples are offered for purposes of explanation andshould not be understood as limiting.

Popup menu 614 further includes a “Delete” option. In contrast to the“Insert” option, the “Delete” option may enable a user to delete data,audio files or other objects from the selected cell. The menus describedabove with respect to the “Insert” option may similarly apply to the“Delete” option. In addition, popup menu 614 may provide “Filter” and“Sort” options, described further below with respect to FIG. 8. An“Insert Audio Note” option may enable a user to create and associate anaudio note with a cell, described further below with respect to FIGS.7A-7B.

Popup menu 614 may further provide a “Format Cells” option. The “FormatCells” option may enable a user to adjust an alignment of data, a visualrepresentation of an audio file or another object within a selectedcell. For instance, the data may be right, left or center justified.Additionally or alternatively, the “Format Cells” option may enable auser to adjust an alignment between a visual representation of an audiofile and additional data or another object. For example, the additionaldata may be provided above, below, on either side, or wrapping a visualrepresentation of an audio file. In some examples, the “Format Cells”operation may allow a visual representation of an audio file to becomebackground or fill for a cell, allowing additional data to be displayedon top of the visual representation within the cell. The “Format Cells”option may further provide any number of other options, e.g., includingoptions for adjusting a cell border, a cell fill, font of alphanumericdata, formatting of numeric data, and the like.

In further aspects, popup menu 614 may provide a “Define Name” option,which may enable a globally unique name to be assigned to an audio fileor other object. In some aspects, the globally unique name may beassociated as metadata to an audio file and may serve as a file locatorfor the audio file. For instance, the globally unique name may bereferenced within a function of a cell in order to perform operations onan audio file (e.g., play the audio file when a condition of thefunction is met, perform operations on audio attributes, etc.) and/or toperform operations on the spreadsheet based on attributes of the audiofile, and the like. Popup menu 614 may further provide a “Hyperlink”option for inserting a hyperlink to a file, a webpage, or otherwise. Asshould be appreciated, the options of popup menu 614 described above arenot exhaustive and should not be considered to be limiting. Indeed, anynumber of options may be provided by popup menu 614.

As should be appreciated, the various devices, components, etc.,described with respect to FIG. 6A are not intended to limit the systemsand methods to the particular components described. Accordingly,additional topology configurations may be used to practice the methodsand systems herein and/or some components described may be excludedwithout departing from the methods and systems disclosed herein.

FIG. 6B illustrates an interface showing a text transcription of anaudio file, according to an example embodiment.

Similar to FIG. 6A, FIG. 6B shows interface 600 of a spreadsheetapplication including spreadsheet 602 and navigation ribbon 604, whichincludes cell identifier 606 and formula bar 608. As illustrated, cellE5 is selected, as indicated by thickened and/or colored outlining ofthe cell border of cell E5. As shown, a cell identifier 606 (e.g., “E5”)for the selected cell is displayed in navigation ribbon 604.Additionally, formula bar 608 displays at least a portion of the textualcontent of cell E5 (e.g., “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consecteturadipiscing elit . . . ”).

As described with reference to FIG. 6A, cell D5 may have been selectedand, in response to selection of transcribe option 616 (i.e., a“Transcribe”) and option 622 (i.e., “Speech to Text”), an audio file 618associated with cell D5 may be transcribed. In some cases, a texttranscription of audio file 618 may be generated and associated withcell D5, e.g., within a compound data type as described above.Alternatively, a second cell may be selected and the text transcriptionof the audio file 618 may be associated with the second cell. In someaspects, the second cell may be selected by a user; in other aspects,the second cell may automatically be selected (e.g., a cell adjacent tothe first cell may automatically be selected. As illustrated, texttranscription 624 has been generated and associated with cell E5 (secondcell). In still further aspects, a text transcription of an audio filemay be provided in a bubble, balloon, or otherwise (not shown), and insome cases, may be identified by an icon that may be activated todisplay the text transcription (not shown).

As should be appreciated, the various devices, components, etc.,described with respect to FIG. 6B are not intended to limit the systemsand methods to the particular components described. Accordingly,additional topology configurations may be used to practice the methodsand systems herein and/or some components described may be excludedwithout departing from the methods and systems disclosed herein.

FIG. 7A illustrates an interface showing a popup menu for inserting anaudio note in a cell of a spreadsheet, according to an exampleembodiment.

As illustrated, an interface 700 of a spreadsheet application isprovided. Interface 700 includes a spreadsheet 702, a navigation ribbon704 (including a cell identifier 706 and a formula bar 708), and atoolbar 710. Interface 700 further includes a plurality of tabs 712 foraccessing various aspects and operations of the spreadsheet application.As illustrated, cell F5 is selected, as indicated by thickened and/orcolored outlining of the cell border of cell F5. As shown, a cellidentifier 706 (e.g., “F5”) for the selected cell is displayed innavigation ribbon 704. In this case, cell F5 is empty and formula bar708, which displays the contents of cell F5, is also empty.

In aspects, upon selecting a cell (e.g., cell F5), a popup menu 714 (orother interface) may be provided. In other aspects, popup menu 714 maybe provided in response to additional input (e.g., right click, hoverover, etc.). Popup menu 714 may provide any number of options for addingcontent and/or manipulating data or objects associated with a selectedcell, as described above with reference to FIG. 6A. For instance, asillustrated, an option 716 may be selected to “Insert Audio Note.” Inaspects, an audio note may be a brief sound clip conveying instructions,information, comments, reminders, explanations, and the like. In somecases, an audio note may automatically play in response to satisfactionof a condition within a formula. For instance, when a condition is metwithin the spreadsheet (e.g., a revenue number hits a threshold value,or orders for a product hit a threshold number, etc.), the audio notemay be sent in an email, voicemail, text, etc., or may be associatedwith the spreadsheet such that the audio note plays the next time thespreadsheet application is opened. The audio file may be a notification(e.g., revenue hit “x”), a reminder (e.g., orders hit 500 units,remember to order boxes for shipping), an encouragement (e.g., “Way togo!” sent to a sales team upon hitting sales goal), an explanation(e.g., “EBITDA number is down due to higher than expected laborcosts.”), or any other message.

In aspects, in response to selection of option 716, a secondary popupmenu 718 may be displayed. Secondary popup menu 718 may provide a numberof options for inserting an audio note. For example, “Record,” “SelectCell,” “Speech to Text,” etc. As illustrated, the “Record” option 720has been selected (e.g., evidenced by shading). In this case, uponselection of the “Record” option 720, a user may speak the message intoa microphone associated with a computing device. The recorded audio notemay then be associated with a selected cell (e.g., cell F5), which inthis case has already been selected. In other examples, a user mayselect a cell after recording the audio note by selecting option “SelectCell.” In further aspects, a user may select to transcribe the audionote by selecting “Speech to Text.” In this case, a text transcriptionof the audio note may be provided in a balloon, bubble, or otherwise,either displayed automatically or upon user selection (e.g., by hoveringover, clicking, etc.).

As should be appreciated, the various devices, components, etc.,described with respect to FIG. 7A are not intended to limit the systemsand methods to the particular components described. Accordingly,additional topology configurations may be used to practice the methodsand systems herein and/or some components described may be excludedwithout departing from the methods and systems disclosed herein.

FIG. 7B illustrates an interface showing an audio note inserted in acell of a spreadsheet, according to an example embodiment.

Similar to FIG. 7A, FIG. 7B shows interface 700 of a spreadsheetapplication including spreadsheet 702 and navigation ribbon 704, whichincludes cell identifier 706 and formula bar 708. As illustrated, cellF5 is selected, as indicated by thickened and/or colored outlining ofthe cell border of cell F5. As shown, a cell identifier 706 (e.g., “F5”)for the selected cell is displayed in navigation ribbon 704. In thiscase, whereas formula bar 708 was empty in FIG. 7A, the formula bar 708of FIG. 7B displays a name of the audio note inserted in cell F5 (e.g.,“Note_20131207”).

Additionally, an audio icon 722 is displayed in cell F5, indicating thatan audio note is associated with the cell. In aspects, any suitableindicator of an associated audio note may be displayed in cell F5. Infurther aspects, a text transcription balloon 724 is provided. Forinstance, in response to hovering over audio icon 722 (or right click onaudio icon 722), text transcription balloon 724 may be displayed to auser. In other aspects, the audio note may be played (e.g., spoken) inresponse to hovering over or clicking audio icon 722. In still furtheraspects, the audio not may be displayed and spoken upon hovering over orclicking audio icon 722. The above examples are provided for purposes ofexplanation and should not be considered limiting.

As should be appreciated, the various devices, components, etc.,described with respect to FIG. 7B are not intended to limit the systemsand methods to the particular components described. Accordingly,additional topology configurations may be used to practice the methodsand systems herein and/or some components described may be excludedwithout departing from the methods and systems disclosed herein.

FIG. 8 illustrates an interface showing a popup menu for sorting a rangeof cells in a spreadsheet based on one or more attributes of audio filesassociated with the range of cells, according to an example embodiment.

As illustrated, an interface 800 of a spreadsheet application isprovided. Interface 800 includes a spreadsheet 802 and a navigationribbon 804, including a cell identifier 806 and a formula bar 808.Interface 800 further includes a plurality of tabs 812 for accessingvarious aspects and operations of the spreadsheet application. Asfurther illustrated, a range of cells (A3:D5) is selected, asillustrated by shading or highlighting over the range of cells. Asshown, cell identifier 806 (e.g., “A3”), identifying a cell at the topleft corner of the range of cells, is displayed in navigation ribbon804. Additionally, formula bar 808 displays the contents of cell A3(e.g., “Dec. 3, 2013”).

As indicated above, the range of cells (i.e., A3:D5) has been selected.The range of cells may be selected by highlighting the range of cells,touching (or swiping) the range of cells, entering “=A3:D5” into theformula bar, etc. In aspects, upon selecting a range of cells includingassociated audio files, a first popup menu 814 (or other interface) maybe provided for manipulating associated audio files or other data in theselected range of cells. In other aspects, first popup menu 814 may beprovided in response to additional input (e.g., right click, hover over,etc.).

Similar to popup menus 614 and 714, first popup menu 814 may provide anynumber of options for manipulating data or objects associated with theselected range of cells. For instance, first popup menu 814 may provide“Filter” and “Sort” options for filtering or sorting the spreadsheetbased on one or more audio attributes of the associated audio files. Forexample, in response to selecting “Sort” option 816, a second popup menu818 may be provided. The second popup menu 818 may provide options forsorting the spreadsheet based on audio attributes of associated audiofiles (e.g., audio files associated with the selected range of cells).As described above, an audio file may be defined by audio data (e.g.,modulated data for storing sound waves) and/or audio attributes (e.g.,volume, pitch, channel, bitrate, creation date and/or time, file name,file size, etc.). Sorting may be performed based on audio data and/oraudio attributes, e.g., duration of associated audio files (e.g., “SortLongest to Shortest” or “Sort Shortest to Longest”), pitch of associatedaudio files (e.g., “Sort Highest to Lowest” or “Sort Lowest toHighest”), creation dates of associated audio files (e.g., “Sort Newestto Oldest” or “Sort Oldest to Newest”), and the like. Additionally,sort, filter and conditional formatting operations may be performed onmetadata attributes that are not visible or displayed in the cell. Forinstance, tangible metadata may be identified, e.g., GEO location datathat was captured and stored as part of metadata for an audio filerecorded by a mobile device, and surfaced and/or manipulated in thespreadsheet. In aspects, a spreadsheet may be sorted based on anyidentifiable audio attribute, and in some cases identifiable audio data,of associated audio files.

As should be appreciated, the various devices, components, etc.,described with respect to FIG. 8 are not intended to limit the systemsand methods to the particular components described. Accordingly,additional topology configurations may be used to practice the methodsand systems herein and/or some components described may be excludedwithout departing from the methods and systems disclosed herein.

FIG. 9A illustrates an interface showing one or more audio files andadditional data associated with one or more cells of a spreadsheet,according to a first example embodiment.

As illustrated, an interface 900 of a spreadsheet application isprovided. Interface 900 includes a spreadsheet 902 and a navigationribbon 904, including a cell identifier 906 and a formula bar 908.Interface 900 further includes a plurality of tabs 912 for accessingvarious aspects and operations of the spreadsheet application. Asfurther illustrated, cell D3 is selected, as indicated by shading ofcell D3. However, selection of a cell may be indicated by any suitablemeans, such as highlighting, perceived three-dimensional enlargement,outlining of the cell border, and the like. As shown, a cell identifier906 (e.g., “D3”) for the selected cell is displayed in navigation ribbon904.

As illustrated, cell D3 contains both an audio file (e.g., audio file914) and additional data (e.g., additional data 916). In the illustratedembodiment, visual representation 918 identifies an audio file 914 andadditional data 916 describes audio file 914, e.g., title “Depo 1,”deponent “Mr. Key,” and date “Dec. 3, 2013.” In some aspects, audio file914 and additional data 916 may be associated with a compound data type.In this case, a formula bar 908 for cell D3 may display a functionreferencing a globally unique name for the compound data type (e.g., thecompound data type representing the audio file 914 and the additionaldata 916) associated with cell D3. In other aspects, formula bar 908 maydisplay a function calling audio file 914 and additional data 916contained in cell D3.

A function representing the compound data type may be identified using avariety of syntax. For instance, the function may surface whateverattribute-value pairs are stored in the compound data type and may berepresented as: =GETAUDIO(“C:\Depos\Key\20131203.wav”, “Title”, “Depo1”,“DeponentName”, “Mr. Key”, “Date”, Dec. 3, 2013). In other aspects,where a user combines an audio file with an arbitrary set of values(e.g., a record), the function may be represented as:=GETAUDIO(“C:\depos\key\2013203.wav”, RECORD(“Title”, “Depo1”,“DeponentName”, “Mr. Key”, “Date”, Dec. 3, 2013)). In still otheraspects, where an audio file (identified by a “.wav” file extension) isadded to a compound data type constructed by a user, the audio filewould amount to a value within the compound data type (e.g., a record)and the function may be represented as: =RECORD(“Audio”,“C:\depos\key\2013203.wav”, “Title”, “Depo1”, “DeponentName”, “Mr. Key”,“Date”, Dec. 3, 2013). In still other aspects, a user may create acompound data type and give the compound data type a name (e.g.,“Deposition”). The next time the compound data type is used, eachattribute name is already known as a field in the “Deposition” compounddata type and only the values need to be called out in the function,which may be represented as: =DEPOSITION(“C:\depos\key\2013203.wav”,“Depo1”, “Mr. Key”, Dec. 3, 2013). Further, the function may simplyreference attributes of the audio file and read the values frommetadata, e.g., =RECORD(“Audio”, “C:\depos\key\2013203.wav”, “Title”,Audio.Title “DeponentName”, “Mr. Key”, “Date”, Audio.CreatedDate). Inthis case, a user may provide custom fields within the compound datatype (e.g., record) and, by dereferencing the ‘audio’ field, values maybe read from metadata and populated in the user's defined fields in therecord.

As should be appreciated, the various devices, components, etc.,described with respect to FIG. 9A are not intended to limit the systemsand methods to the particular components described. Accordingly,additional topology configurations may be used to practice the methodsand systems herein and/or some components described may be excludedwithout departing from the methods and systems disclosed herein.

FIG. 9B illustrates an interface showing one or more audio files andadditional data associated with one or more cells of a spreadsheet,according to a second example embodiment.

As illustrated, an interface 900 of a spreadsheet application isprovided. Interface 900 includes a spreadsheet 902 and a navigationribbon 904, including a cell identifier 906 and a formula bar 908. Asfurther illustrated, cell D3 is selected, as indicated by backgroundshading of cell D3. However, selection of a cell may be indicated by anysuitable means, such as highlighting, perceived three-dimensionalenlargement, outlining of the cell border, and the like. As shown, acell identifier 906 (e.g., “D3”) for the selected cell is displayed innavigation ribbon 904.

Similar to cell D3 of FIG. 9A, cell D3 contains both an audio file(e.g., audio file 914) and additional data (e.g., additional data 916).However, cell D3 of FIG. 9B has been resized. In response to resizingcell D3, additional data 916 displays more information regarding audiofile 914, e.g., location “Chicago” and duration “04:52.” As explainedabove, in some aspects, the display of additional data 916 may bedynamic. For instance, a minimal amount of additional data may bedisplayed in a small-sized cell, whereas progressively more additionaldata may be displayed as the cell is enlarged. For instance, in asmall-sized cell, an audio icon may be displayed, indicating that anaudio file is associated with the cell. In contrast, as the cell isenlarged, a rendering of a visual representation of the audio file maybe displayed along with progressively more additional data, includingaudio attributes such as file name and creation data/time, andinformation regarding audio file content, such as a text transcriptionof the audio file.

In some aspects, audio file 914 and additional data 916 may beassociated with a compound data type. In this case, a formula bar 908for cell D3 may display a function referencing a globally unique namefor the compound data type (e.g., the compound data type representingthe audio file 914 and the additional data 916) associated with cell D3.Alternatively, formula bar 908 may display a function describing audiofile 914 and additional data 916 contained in cell D3. For instance, thefunction may be represented as: =GETAUDIO(“C:\Depos\Key\20131203.wav”,“Title”, “Depo1”, “DeponentName”, “Mr. Key”, “Date”, Dec. 3, 2013,“LocationName”, “Chicago”, “Duration”, “04:52”). Alternatively, thefunction may be represented in any of the forms identified for FIG. 9Aabove.

As should be appreciated, the various devices, components, etc.,described with respect to FIG. 9B are not intended to limit the systemsand methods to the particular components described. Accordingly,additional topology configurations may be used to practice the methodsand systems herein and/or some components described may be excludedwithout departing from the methods and systems disclosed herein.

FIG. 9C illustrates an interface showing one or more audio files andadditional data associated with one or more cells of a spreadsheet,according to a third example embodiment.

As illustrated, an interface 900 of a spreadsheet application isprovided. Interface 900 includes a spreadsheet 902 and a navigationribbon 904, including a cell identifier 906 and a formula bar 908. Asfurther illustrated, cell D3 is selected, as indicated by thickenedand/or colored outlining of the cell border of cell D3. However,selection of a cell may be indicated by any suitable means, such ashighlighting, shading, perceived three-dimensional enlargement, and thelike. As shown, a cell identifier 906 (e.g., “D3”) for the selected cellis displayed in navigation ribbon 904. Additionally, formula bar 908displays a function calling a file locator (e.g.,=GETAUDIO(“C:\Depos\Key\20131203.wav”)) for the audio file (i.e., audiofile 914) displayed within cell D3.

In this case, additional data 916 is not displayed in the same cell asaudio file 914. Rather, additional data 916 is displayed in a popupwindow 920. For example, in response to selecting cell D3 (e.g., byright click, hover over, etc.), popup window 920 may be displayed. Popupwindow 920 displays a visual representation 918 of audio file 914, alongwith additional data 916, in an organized and stylized layout. Forinstance, popup window 920 includes a full title (e.g., “Deposition 1”as opposed to “Depo 1”) and a visual representation 918 identifyingaudio file 914, which is displayed with an interactive play bar 922providing controls for “fast rewind” (or “skip back”), “rewind,”“pause,” “play,” and “fast forward” (or “skip forward”). Further,additional data 916 includes data descriptors for each piece ofinformation. In this regard, popup window 920 provides a user-friendlyinterface (e.g., organized and stylized) for viewing additional dataassociated with audio file 914 upon user selection.

As should be appreciated, the various devices, components, etc.,described with respect to FIG. 9C are not intended to limit the systemsand methods to the particular components described. Accordingly,additional topology configurations may be used to practice the methodsand systems herein and/or some components described may be excludedwithout departing from the methods and systems disclosed herein.

FIG. 10 illustrates an interface showing a settings toolbar formanipulating one or more attributes of an audio file associated with acell of a spreadsheet, according to an example embodiment.

As illustrated, an interface 1000 of a spreadsheet application isprovided. Interface 1000 includes a spreadsheet 1002 and a navigationribbon 1004, including a cell identifier 1006 and a formula bar 1008.Interface 1000 further includes a plurality of tabs 1012 for accessingvarious aspects and operations of the spreadsheet application. Asfurther illustrated, cell D3 is selected, as indicated by thickenedand/or colored outlining of the cell border of cell D3. As shown, cellidentifier 1006 (e.g., “D3”) for the selected cell is displayed innavigation ribbon 1004. Additionally, formula bar 1008 displays afunction calling a file locator, e.g.,fx=GETAUDIO(“C:\Depos\Key\20131203.wav”), for an audio file (i.e., audiofile 1014) displayed within cell D3.

In some aspects, in response to selecting a cell that includes anassociated audio file, a settings toolbar 1018 (or other interface) maybe provided for manipulating the associated audio file. In otheraspects, a settings toolbar 1018 may be provided in response toadditional input (e.g., a right click) within a selected cell. Settingstoolbar 1018 may include a number of tabs for viewing and manipulatingvarious audio attributes. For instance, a sound tab may display audioattributes including “volume,” “pitch,” “speed,” “bitrate type,”“bitrate” “channel type,” and “channel.” Additionally, other tabsassociated with settings toolbar 1018 may provide audio attributes, suchas resolution, codec, sample rate, frequency, amplitude, duration,creation date/time, and the like (not shown). In some cases, e.g., whereboth an audio file and additional data are associated with a singlecell, settings toolbar 1018 may provide relative attributes between theaudio file and the additional data, such as alignment, backgroundopacity or transparency, and the like (not shown). As should beappreciated, any number of audio attributes may be displayed in settingstoolbar 1018, or any other suitable interface.

Settings toolbar 1018 may also expose one or more operations formanipulating audio data and/or audio attributes of an associated audiofile. For example, input fields and/or UI controls (e.g., +/−controls)may be provided for one or more of the audio attributes displayed by thesettings toolbar 1018. In this regard, a user may directly input valuesfor audio attributes and/or adjust audio attributes up or down based onuser preference. For instance, with reference to audio attributesdisplayed by the sound tab above, values for “volume,” “pitch,” “speed,”“bitrate type,” “bitrate” “channel type,” and/or “channel” may beadjusted by direct input and/or adjusted up or down using +/−controls.Additionally or alternatively, a “reset” button may be provided toreturn adjusted parameters back to an original version of the audiofile. As should be appreciated, the above examples of audio attributesare not exhaustive and any audio attribute may be surfaced and adjustedbased on one or more exposed operations.

With reference to sizing a visual representation of an audio file,additional selections may be provided to “move and size” the visualrepresentation with a cell, “move without sizing” the visualrepresentation with a cell, and “don't move or size” the visualrepresentation with a cell. In further aspects, audio data (e.g.,modulated data encoding sound wave data) may be surfaced and operationsfor manipulating the audio data may be exposed to a user (not shown). Inthis way, audio processing may be enabled for audio files within aspreadsheet. In some cases, some options may be disabled when certainsettings are selected. For example, sizing options may be disabled whena “fit to cell” setting is selected. The above examples are provided forpurposes of explanation only and should not be understood as limiting.Indeed, any of the operations described herein may be exposed via anysuitable user interface for access to a user. In other aspects of thepresent disclosure, rather than providing a settings toolbar (asillustrated by FIG. 10), a settings ribbon may be provided (not shown).Options available in a settings ribbon (not shown) may include, forinstance, editing the audio file (e.g., processing, filtering, etc.),splicing the audio file, and/or adding acoustic effects. Any number ofoptions for enabling operations on audio files associated with cells maybe provided in any suitable ribbon, tab, toolbar, and the like.

As should be appreciated, the various devices, components, etc.,described with respect to FIG. 10 are not intended to limit the systemsand methods to the particular components described. Accordingly,additional topology configurations may be used to practice the methodsand systems herein and/or some components described may be excludedwithout departing from the methods and systems disclosed herein.

FIGS. 11-14 and the associated descriptions provide a discussion of avariety of operating environments in which aspects of the disclosure maybe practiced. However, the devices and systems illustrated and discussedwith respect to FIGS. 11-14 are for purposes of example and illustrationand are not limiting of a vast number of computing device configurationsthat may be utilized for practicing aspects of the disclosure, asdescribed herein.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating physical components (e.g.,hardware) of a computing device 1100 with which aspects of thedisclosure may be practiced. The computing device components describedbelow may have computer executable instructions for implementing aspreadsheet application 1120 on a computing device (e.g., servercomputing device 108 and/or client computing device 104), includingcomputer executable instructions for spreadsheet application 1120 thatcan be executed to implement the methods disclosed herein. In a basicconfiguration, the computing device 1100 may include at least oneprocessing unit 1102 and a system memory 1104. Depending on theconfiguration and type of computing device, the system memory 1104 maycomprise, but is not limited to, volatile storage (e.g., random accessmemory), non-volatile storage (e.g., read-only memory), flash memory, orany combination of such memories. The system memory 1104 may include anoperating system 1105 and one or more program modules 1106 suitable forrunning spreadsheet application 1120, such as one or more componentswith regard to FIG. 1 and, in particular, associate component 1111(e.g., including associate component 112 and/or attribute component118), hybrid component 1113 (e.g., corresponding to hybrid component114), transcription component 1115 (e.g., corresponding to transcriptioncomponent 116), and/or UX component 1117 (e.g., including operationcomponent 120 and UX component 122).

The operating system 1105, for example, may be suitable for controllingthe operation of the computing device 1100. Furthermore, embodiments ofthe disclosure may be practiced in conjunction with a graphics library,other operating systems, or any other application program and is notlimited to any particular application or system. This basicconfiguration is illustrated in FIG. 11 by those components within adashed line 1108. The computing device 1100 may have additional featuresor functionality. For example, the computing device 1100 may alsoinclude additional data storage devices (removable and/or non-removable)such as, for example, magnetic disks, optical disks, or tape. Suchadditional storage is illustrated in FIG. 11 by a removable storagedevice 1109 and a non-removable storage device 1110.

As stated above, a number of program modules and data files may bestored in the system memory 1104. While executing on the processing unit1102, the program modules 1106 (e.g., spreadsheet application 1120) mayperform processes including, but not limited to, the aspects, asdescribed herein. Other program modules that may be used in accordancewith aspects of the present disclosure, and in particular forassociating audio files with cells of a spreadsheet, may includeassociate component 1111, hybrid component 1113, transcription component1115, and/or UX component 1117, etc.

Furthermore, embodiments of the disclosure may be practiced in anelectrical circuit comprising discrete electronic elements, packaged orintegrated electronic chips containing logic gates, a circuit utilizinga microprocessor, or on a single chip containing electronic elements ormicroprocessors. For example, embodiments of the disclosure may bepracticed via a system-on-a-chip (SOC) where each or many of thecomponents illustrated in FIG. 11 may be integrated onto a singleintegrated circuit. Such an SOC device may include one or moreprocessing units, graphics units, communications units, systemvirtualization units and various application functionality all of whichare integrated (or “burned”) onto the chip substrate as a singleintegrated circuit. When operating via an SOC, the functionality,described herein, with respect to the capability of client to switchprotocols may be operated via application-specific logic integrated withother components of the computing device 1100 on the single integratedcircuit (chip). Embodiments of the disclosure may also be practicedusing other technologies capable of performing logical operations suchas, for example, AND, OR, and NOT, including but not limited tomechanical, optical, fluidic, and quantum technologies. In addition,embodiments of the disclosure may be practiced within a general purposecomputer or in any other circuits or systems.

The computing device 1100 may also have one or more input device(s) 1112such as a keyboard, a mouse, a pen, a sound or voice input device, atouch or swipe input device, etc. The output device(s) 1114 such as adisplay, speakers, a printer, etc. may also be included. Theaforementioned devices are examples and others may be used. Thecomputing device 1100 may include one or more communication connections1116 allowing communications with other computing devices 1150. Examplesof suitable communication connections 1116 include, but are not limitedto, radio frequency (RF) transmitter, receiver, and/or transceivercircuitry; universal serial bus (USB), parallel, and/or serial ports.

The term computer readable media as used herein may include computerstorage media. Computer storage media may include volatile andnonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any methodor technology for storage of information, such as computer readableinstructions, data structures, or program modules. The system memory1104, the removable storage device 1109, and the non-removable storagedevice 1110 are all computer storage media examples (e.g., memorystorage). Computer storage media may include RAM, ROM, electricallyerasable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memorytechnology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other opticalstorage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage orother magnetic storage devices, or any other article of manufacturewhich can be used to store information and which can be accessed by thecomputing device 1100. Any such computer storage media may be part ofthe computing device 1100. Computer storage media is non-transitory anddoes not include a carrier wave or other propagated or modulated datasignal.

Communication media may be embodied by computer readable instructions,data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated datasignal, such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism, andincludes any information delivery media. The term “modulated datasignal” may describe a signal that has one or more characteristics setor changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. Byway of example, and not limitation, communication media may includewired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, andwireless media such as acoustic, radio frequency (RF), infrared, andother wireless media.

FIGS. 12A and 12B illustrate a mobile computing device 1200, forexample, a mobile telephone, a smart phone, wearable computer (such as asmart watch), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, and the like, withwhich embodiments of the disclosure may be practiced. In some aspects,the client may be a mobile computing device. With reference to FIG. 12A,one aspect of a mobile computing device 1200 for implementing theaspects is illustrated. In a basic configuration, the mobile computingdevice 1200 is a handheld computer having both input elements and outputelements. The mobile computing device 1200 typically includes a display1205 and one or more input buttons 1210 that allow the user to enterinformation into the mobile computing device 1200. The display 1205 ofthe mobile computing device 1200 may also function as an input device(e.g., a touch screen display). If included, an optional side inputelement 1215 allows further user input. The side input element 1215 maybe a rotary switch, a button, or any other type of manual input element.In alternative aspects, mobile computing device 1200 may incorporatemore or less input elements. For example, the display 1205 may not be atouch screen in some embodiments. In yet another alternative embodiment,the mobile computing device 1200 is a portable phone system, such as acellular phone. The mobile computing device 1200 may also include anoptional keypad 1235. Optional keypad 1235 may be a physical keypad or a“soft” keypad generated on the touch screen display. In variousembodiments, the output elements include the display 1205 for showing agraphical user interface (GUI), a visual indicator 1220 (e.g., a lightemitting diode), and/or an audio transducer 1225 (e.g., a speaker). Insome aspects, the mobile computing device 1200 incorporates a vibrationtransducer for providing the user with tactile feedback. In yet anotheraspect, the mobile computing device 1200 incorporates input and/oroutput ports, such as an audio input (e.g., a microphone jack), an audiooutput (e.g., a headphone jack), and a video output (e.g., a HDMI port)for sending signals to or receiving signals from an external device.

FIG. 12B is a block diagram illustrating the architecture of one aspectof a mobile computing device. That is, the mobile computing device 1200can incorporate a system (e.g., an architecture) 1202 to implement someaspects. In one embodiment, the system 1202 is implemented as a “smartphone” capable of running one or more applications (e.g., browser,e-mail, calendaring, contact managers, messaging clients, games, andmedia clients/players). In some aspects, the system 1202 is integratedas a computing device, such as an integrated personal digital assistant(PDA) and wireless phone.

One or more application programs 1266 may be loaded into the memory 1262and run on or in association with the operating system 1264. Examples ofthe application programs include phone dialer programs, e-mail programs,personal information management (PIM) programs, word processingprograms, spreadsheet programs, Internet browser programs, messagingprograms, and so forth. The system 1202 also includes a non-volatilestorage area 1268 within the memory 1262. The non-volatile storage area1268 may be used to store persistent information that should not be lostif the system 1202 is powered down. The application programs 1266 mayuse and store information in the non-volatile storage area 1268, such asemail or other messages used by an email application, and the like. Asynchronization application (not shown) also resides on the system 1202and is programmed to interact with a corresponding synchronizationapplication resident on a host computer to keep the information storedin the non-volatile storage area 1268 synchronized with correspondinginformation stored at the host computer. As should be appreciated, otherapplications may be loaded into the memory 1262 and run on the mobilecomputing device 1200, including the instructions for associating one ormore audio files with one or more cells of a spreadsheet as describedherein (e.g., associate component, hybrid component, transcriptioncomponent, attribute component, operation component, and/or UXcomponent, etc.).

The system 1202 has a power supply 1270, which may be implemented as oneor more batteries. The power supply 1270 may further include an externalpower source, such as an AC adapter or a powered docking cradle thatsupplements or recharges the batteries. The system 1202 may also includea radio interface layer 1272 that performs the function of transmittingand receiving radio frequency communications. The radio interface layer1272 facilitates wireless connectivity between the system 1202 and the“outside world,” via a communications carrier or service provider.Transmissions to and from the radio interface layer 1272 are conductedunder control of the operating system 1264. In other words,communications received by the radio interface layer 1272 may bedisseminated to the application programs 1266 via the operating system1264, and vice versa.

The visual indicator 1220 may be used to provide visual notifications,and/or an audio interface 1274 may be used for producing audiblenotifications via an audio transducer 1225 (e.g., audio transducer 1225illustrated in FIG. 12A). In the illustrated embodiment, the visualindicator 1220 is a light emitting diode (LED) and the audio transducer1225 may be a speaker. These devices may be directly coupled to thepower supply 1270 so that when activated, they remain on for a durationdictated by the notification mechanism even though the processor 1260and other components might shut down for conserving battery power. TheLED may be programmed to remain on indefinitely until the user takesaction to indicate the powered-on status of the device. The audiointerface 1274 is used to provide audible signals to and receive audiblesignals from the user. For example, in addition to being coupled to theaudio transducer 1225, the audio interface 1274 may also be coupled to amicrophone to receive audible input, such as to facilitate a telephoneconversation. In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure,the microphone may also serve as an audio sensor to facilitate controlof notifications, as will be described below. The system 1202 mayfurther include a video interface 1276 that enables an operation ofperipheral device 1230 (e.g., on-board camera) to record still images,video stream, and the like.

A mobile computing device 1200 implementing the system 1202 may haveadditional features or functionality. For example, the mobile computingdevice 1200 may also include additional data storage devices (removableand/or non-removable) such as, magnetic disks, optical disks, or tape.Such additional storage is illustrated in FIG. 12B by the non-volatilestorage area 1268.

Data/information generated or captured by the mobile computing device1200 and stored via the system 1202 may be stored locally on the mobilecomputing device 1200, as described above, or the data may be stored onany number of storage media that may be accessed by the device via theradio interface layer 1272 or via a wired connection between the mobilecomputing device 1200 and a separate computing device associated withthe mobile computing device 1200, for example, a server computer in adistributed computing network, such as the Internet. As should beappreciated such data/information may be accessed via the mobilecomputing device 1200 via the radio interface layer 1272 or via adistributed computing network. Similarly, such data/information may bereadily transferred between computing devices for storage and useaccording to well-known data/information transfer and storage means,including electronic mail and collaborative data/information sharingsystems.

As should be appreciated, FIGS. 12A and 12B are described for purposesof illustrating the present methods and systems and are not intended tolimit the disclosure to a particular sequence of steps or a particularcombination of hardware or software components.

FIG. 13 illustrates one aspect of the architecture of a system forprocessing data received at a computing system from a remote source,such as a general computing device 1304 (e.g., personal computer),tablet computing device 1306, or mobile computing device 1308, asdescribed above. Content displayed at server device 1302 may be storedin different communication channels or other storage types. For example,various documents may be stored using a directory service 1322, a webportal 1324, a mailbox service 1326, an instant messaging store 1328, ora social networking service 1330. The spreadsheet application 1321 maybe employed by a client that communicates with server device 1302,and/or the spreadsheet application 1320 may be employed by server device1302. The server device 1302 may provide data to and from a clientcomputing device such as a general computing device 1304, a tabletcomputing device 1306 and/or a mobile computing device 1308 (e.g., asmart phone) through a network 1315. By way of example, the computersystem described above with respect to FIGS. 1-12 may be embodied in ageneral computing device 1304 (e.g., personal computer), a tabletcomputing device 1306 and/or a mobile computing device 1308 (e.g., asmart phone). Any of these embodiments of the computing devices mayobtain content from the store 1316, in addition to receiving graphicaldata useable to either be pre-processed at a graphic-originating systemor post-processed at a receiving computing system.

As should be appreciated, FIG. 13 is described for purposes ofillustrating the present methods and systems and is not intended tolimit the disclosure to a particular sequence of steps or a particularcombination of hardware or software components.

FIG. 14 illustrates an exemplary tablet computing device 1400 that mayexecute one or more aspects disclosed herein. In addition, the aspectsand functionalities described herein may operate over distributedsystems (e.g., cloud-based computing systems), where applicationfunctionality, memory, data storage and retrieval and various processingfunctions may be operated remotely from each other over a distributedcomputing network, such as the Internet or an intranet. User interfacesand information of various types may be displayed via on-board computingdevice displays or via remote display units associated with one or morecomputing devices. For example user interfaces and information ofvarious types may be displayed and interacted with on a wall surfaceonto which user interfaces and information of various types areprojected. Interaction with the multitude of computing systems withwhich embodiments of the invention may be practiced include, keystrokeentry, touch screen entry, voice or other audio entry, gesture entrywhere an associated computing device is equipped with detection (e.g.,camera) functionality for capturing and interpreting user gestures forcontrolling the functionality of the computing device, and the like.

As should be appreciated, FIG. 14 is described for purposes ofillustrating the present methods and systems and is not intended tolimit the disclosure to a particular sequence of steps or a particularcombination of hardware or software components.

FIG. 15 illustrates a method for referencing one or more audio files infunctions of one or more cells of a spreadsheet, according to an exampleembodiment.

Method 1500 begins with provide interface operation 1502, where aspreadsheet application may provide (or cause to be provided) a userinterface to a user. For example, a UX component (e.g., UX component122) may facilitate a user experience (UX) by providing the userinterface of a spreadsheet application (e.g., spreadsheet application110) via a display. Selections and/or inputs may be received by the userinterface based on gestures, touch, mouse movements, keyboard input, andthe like. The user interface may operate in conjunction or communicationwith one or more other components of the spreadsheet application (e.g.,associate component 112, hybrid component 114, transcription component116, attribute component 118, and operation component 120) to referenceat least one audio file in a function of at least one cell of thespreadsheet.

At select cell operation 1504, at least one cell of a spreadsheet may beselected, either automatically (e.g., based on a function) or by userselection. That is, in some aspects, operations may call (or select) acell without requiring user input, e.g., operations such as ‘datarefresh,’ ‘import from such and such data source,’ ‘copy paste,’ etc. Inother aspects, cells may be selected by highlighting or otherwiseidentifying the cell or range of cells using a gesture, touch, mouseclick, keyboard input, and the like.

At receive audio file operation 1506, at least one audio file may bereceived for association with the at least one cell, eitherautomatically (e.g., based on a function) or by user selection. In someaspects, in response to a selection of a cell (or a range of cells), amenu may be provided for inserting or associating various objects(including audio files) with the selected cell (or range of cells). Inaspects, a user may select a textual document, convert the textualdocument to an audio file (e.g., by text-to-speech transcription),select the at least one cell and associate the audio file with theselected cell. Alternatively, a user may select a range of values (e.g.,within a range of cells), convert the range of values to an audio file(e.g., using a value-to-sound conversion algorithm), select the at leastone cell and associate the audio file with the selected cell.Alternatively, a user may select a musical score, convert the musicalscore (e.g., using optical character recognition (OCR)), select the atleast one cell and associate the audio file with the selected cell.Alternatively, a function may calculate a translation from musical scorefor piano to a musical score for saxophone (e.g., a scale and notetranslation may result in new values for each note in the music, wherethe ‘result’ is the new score). In still further aspects, a user mayrecord the at least one audio file (e.g., via a mobile device) forassociation with the selected cell. Alternatively, a user may manuallyenter a cell locator for the at least one audio file into a functionassociated with the selected cell. Alternatively, a user may copy andpaste the audio file into the selected cell and/or drag and drop theaudio file into a selected cell. As should be appreciated, the userinterface may receive the at least one audio file by any suitable means.

At reference audio file operation 1508, the at least one audio file maybe referenced in a function associated with the selected cell. In someaspects, a visual representation of the audio file may be displayed inthe at least one cell. In other aspects, a visual representation of theaudio file may not be displayed in the least one cell but may float overthe grid. In still other aspects, a visual representation of the atleast one audio file may not be displayed within the spreadsheet but maybe referenced in storage. Reference audio file operation 1508 may beperformed by an associate component (e.g., associate component 112) of aspreadsheet application (e.g., spreadsheet application 110). Forexample, the audio file may be referenced in the selected cell byentering a URL for the audio file within a function, e.g.,fx=GETAUDIO(“C:\Music\favorites\song1.wav”) orfx=GETAUDIO(“http://www.music.com/90smix/song1.wav”) or by entering aunique name that is global to the spreadsheet, e.g.,fx=GETAUDIO(“song1.wav”). For example, a unique name for an audio filemay be referenced within a formula of the selected cell for performingan operation upon satisfaction of a condition.

At determine operation 1510, it may be determined that a condition ofthe function is satisfied. For instance, the function may specify that“when revenue hits ‘X,’ play referenced audio file.” In this case, whenrevenue hits “X” the condition is satisfied. As should be appreciated,any number of conditions may be included in a function and may besatisfied by any suitable means.

At provide operation 1512, access to the at least one audio file may beprovided. For instance, the at least one audio file may be automaticallyplayed upon satisfaction of the condition. Alternatively, a userinterface may be launched that provides one or more play controls foraccessing the audio file. In other examples, the at least one audio filemay be accessed by sending the audio file in a message or as a voicemailto a user. As should be appreciated, the at least one audio file may beaccessed in any suitable way upon satisfaction of the condition.

As should be appreciated, operations 1502-1512 are described forpurposes of illustrating the present methods and systems and are notintended to limit the disclosure to a particular sequence of steps,e.g., steps may be performed in differing order, additional steps may beperformed, and disclosed steps may be excluded without departing fromthe present disclosure.

FIG. 16 illustrates a method for splicing an audio file associated withat least one cell of a spreadsheet, according to an example embodiment.

Method 1600 begins with provide interface operation 1602, where aspreadsheet application may provide (or cause to be provided) a userinterface to a user. For example, a UX component may facilitate a userexperience (UX) by providing a user interface (UI) of a spreadsheetapplication via a display. Selections and/or inputs may be received bythe user interface based on gestures, touch, mouse movements, keyboardinput, and the like. Additionally, the user interface may operate inconjunction or communication with one or more other components of thespreadsheet application (e.g., associate component 112, hybrid component114, transcription component 116, attribute component 118, and operationcomponent 120) to manipulate one or more audio files associated with oneor more cells of a spreadsheet.

At select cell operation 1604, at least one cell having at least oneassociated audio file may be selected, either automatically (e.g., basedon a function) or by user selection. In some aspects, operations maycall (or select) a cell without requiring user input, e.g., operationssuch as ‘data refresh,’ ‘import from such and such data source,’ ‘copypaste,’ etc. As detailed above, in other aspects, cells having one ormore associated audio files may be selected by highlighting or otherwiseidentifying the cell or range of cells using a gesture, touch, mouseclick, keyboard input, and the like.

At identify tracks operation 1606, one or more tracks may be identifiedfor the at least one audio file associated with the selected cell orrange of cells. An audio file may include a number of segments, ortracks, which may be identified by topic (e.g., all tracks including adiscussion of a vacation), identified by speaker (e.g., all tracksdirected to a particular speaker), directed to a particular loop or waveor sound, etc. As should be appreciated, any number of tracks may beidentified for the at least one audio file by any suitable criteria.

At splice operation 1608, the audio file (e.g., of a conversationbetween multiple individuals) may be sent to a service and an array ofaudio files (e.g., tracks) may be returned (e.g., including an audiofile for each individual's voice identified and extracted from the audiofile). In other examples, a single audio file may be divided intomultiple tracks (e.g., each track representing a particular loop or waveor sound from the original audio file). As should be appreciated, otherexamples are possible and may be incorporated according to the methodsand systems described herein.

At provide operation 1608, a user interface (UI) element may be providedby a UX component (e.g., UX component 122) in order to display, interactwith and/or manipulate the plurality of tracks. For example, the UIelement may provide a visual representation for each of the plurality oftracks, which may be displayed in any suitable arrangement (e.g.,linear, carousel, grid, etc.) and may overlay additional cells of thespreadsheet for viewing and interacting with the plurality of tracks. Auser may interact with the UI element by translating through theplurality of tracks to view, add, delete, edit, or otherwise manipulateone or more of the plurality of tracks.

At expose operation 1612, one or more operations may be exposed to auser in the user interface. The one or more operations may includeoperations for manipulating parameters of one or more tracks of theaudio file. For example, UI controls (e.g., +/−controls) or input fieldsmay be provided for manipulating the one or more parameters, e.g., theaudio attributes detailed above. In this regard, a user may directlyinput values to adjust audio attributes up or down for one or moretracks. For instance, values for “pitch,” “volume,” “speed,” and/or“channel,” may be adjusted by direct input and/or adjusted up or downusing +/−controls. Additionally, as indicated above, the user interfacemay provide controls for viewing, adding, deleting, or editing one ormore of the plurality of tracks. As should be appreciated, the aboveexamples of operations are not exhaustive and any suitable operation maybe exposed.

As should be appreciated, operations 1602-1612 are described forpurposes of illustrating the present methods and systems and are notintended to limit the disclosure to a particular sequence of steps,e.g., steps may be performed in differing order, additional steps may beperformed, and disclosed steps may be excluded without departing fromthe present disclosure.

FIG. 17 illustrates a method for creating an audio file and associatingthe audio file with at least one cell of a spreadsheet, according to afirst example embodiment.

Method 1700 begins with select cell operation 1702, where at least onecell may be selected, either automatically (e.g., based on a function)or by user selection. In some aspects, operations may call (or select) acell without requiring user input, e.g., operations such as ‘datarefresh,’ ‘import from such and such data source’, ‘copy paste,’ etc. Asdetailed above, in other aspects, cells may be selected by highlightingor otherwise identifying the cell or range of cells using a gesture,touch, mouse click, keyboard input, and the like.

At receive document operation 1704, a document may be received. Thedocument may be a text document, a musical score, a range of values, andthe like. As should be appreciated, any type of document may bereceived.

At transcribe operation 1706, the document may be transcribed, e.g., bya transcription component of a spreadsheet application. In some aspects,the document may be transcribed by a service in communication with aspreadsheet application. For example, spoken words may be generated thatcorrespond to text of the document. Alternatively, sound wavesrepresentative of the musical score may be generated based on opticalcharacter recognition (OCR) of sheet music. Alternatively, a functionmay calculate a translation from musical score for piano to a musicalscore for saxophone (e.g., a scale and note translation may result innew values for each note in the music, where the ‘result’ is the newscore). In some cases, a range of values may be mapped to differentpitches and converted into sound using a value-to-sound algorithm, orthe like.

At create operation 1708, an audio file may be created from the sound.In some aspects, the audio file may be created by a service incommunication with the spreadsheet application. In other aspects, theaudio file may be created locally. For example, a textual document maybe converted into an audio file, e.g., spoken words may be generatedthat correspond to the text of the document. Alternatively, a musicalscore may be converted into an audio file, e.g., sound wavesrepresentative of the musical score may be generated. Alternatively,algorithms may be used to convert raw numerical data into an audio file,such as converting different numbers or events to sounds with differentpitch. Upon generating sound, an audio file may be created using ananalog-to-digital converter (ADC), e.g., using pulse-code modulation.The digital signal may be processed and/or compressed and stored in afile format as an audio file.

At associate operation 1710, the audio file may be associated with theselected cell of the spreadsheet. As described above, an audio file maybe associated with a cell by any suitable means.

As should be appreciated, operations 1702-1710 are described forpurposes of illustrating the present methods and systems and are notintended to limit the disclosure to a particular sequence of steps,e.g., steps may be performed in differing order, additional steps may beperformed, and disclosed steps may be excluded without departing fromthe present disclosure.

FIG. 18 illustrates a method for creating an audio file and associatingthe audio file with at least one cell of a spreadsheet, according to asecond example embodiment.

Method 1800 begins with select cell operation 1802, where at least onecell may be selected, either automatically (e.g., based on a function)or by user selection. In some aspects, operations may call (or select) acell without requiring user input, e.g., operations such as ‘datarefresh,’ ‘import from such and such data source’, ‘copy paste,’ etc. Asdetailed above, in other aspects, cells may be selected by highlightingor otherwise identifying the cell or range of cells using a gesture,touch, mouse click, keyboard input, and the like.

At record operation 1804, a sound may be recorded. For example, amicrophone of a mobile device may record (or capture) sound waves (e.g.,of a conversation, music, etc.) and may convert the sound waves into ananalog electric signal. As should be appreciated, sound may be recordedby any suitable recording device.

At create operation 1806, an audio file may be created from the recordedsound. For instance, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) may convertthe analog signal into a digital signal, e.g., using pulse-codemodulation. In some cases, the ADC may be available on a mobile device,while in other cases the analog signal may be downloaded from the mobiledevice and converted to a digital signal on another device (e.g.,personal or server computing device). The digital signal may beprocessed and/or compressed and stored in a file format as an audiofile.

At optional transcribe operation 1808, the audio file may betranscribed, e.g., by a transcription component of a spreadsheetapplication. In some aspects, the audio file may be transcribed by aservice in communication with a spreadsheet application. For example,spoken words in the audio file may be converted to text (e.g.,speech-to-text). Alternatively, sound waves corresponding to music maybe transcribed to sheet music.

At associate operation 1810, the audio file may be associated with theselected cell of the spreadsheet. As described above, an audio file maybe associated with a cell by any suitable means. Additionally, if a texttranscription was performed, the text transcription may optionally beassociated with the selected cell or another cell.

As should be appreciated, operations 1802-1810 are described forpurposes of illustrating the present methods and systems and are notintended to limit the disclosure to a particular sequence of steps,e.g., steps may be performed in differing order, additional steps may beperformed, and disclosed steps may be excluded without departing fromthe present disclosure.

Aspects of the present disclosure, for example, are described above withreference to block diagrams and/or operational illustrations of methods,systems, and computer program products according to aspects of thedisclosure. The functions/acts noted in the blocks may occur out of theorder as shown in any flowchart. For example, two blocks shown insuccession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or theblocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending uponthe functionality/acts involved.

The description and illustration of one or more aspects provided in thisapplication are not intended to limit or restrict the scope of thedisclosure as claimed in any way. The aspects, examples, and detailsprovided in this application are considered sufficient to conveypossession and enable others to make and use the best mode of claimeddisclosure. The claimed disclosure should not be construed as beinglimited to any aspect, example, or detail provided in this application.Regardless of whether shown and described in combination or separately,the various features (both structural and methodological) are intendedto be selectively included or omitted to produce an embodiment with aparticular set of features. Having been provided with the descriptionand illustration of the present application, one skilled in the art mayenvision variations, modifications, and alternate aspects falling withinthe spirit of the broader aspects of the general inventive conceptembodied in this application that do not depart from the broader scopeof the claimed disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: at least one processingunit; and at least one memory storing computer executable instructionsthat, when executed by the at least one processing unit, cause thesystem to perform a method, the method comprising: receiving a selectionof at least one cell of a spreadsheet; receiving a selection of adocument; transcribing the document; creating at least one audio file;creating a compound data type including the at least one audio file andthe document and associating the compound data type with the at leastone cell of a spreadsheet.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein thedocument comprises one of: textual content; and a musical score.
 3. Thesystem of claim 2, wherein the document comprises textual content, themethod further comprising: converting text to speech to create the atleast one audio file.
 4. The system of claim 2, wherein the documentcomprises a musical score, the method further comprising: converting themusical score to music to create the at least one audio file.
 5. Amethod of associating an audio file with at least one cell of aspreadsheet, comprising: receiving a selection of at least one cell of aspreadsheet; recording sound; creating at least one audio file based onthe recorded sound; transcribing the at least one audio file into text;creating a compound data type including the at least one audio file andthe text transcription; and associating the compound data type with theat least one cell of the spreadsheet.
 6. The method of claim 5, whereinthe sound is speech.
 7. The method of claim 6, the method furthercomprising: transcribing the speech into text.
 8. The method of claim 6,wherein the method further comprising: transcribing the speech intotext; and associating the text transcription as a comment bubble withthe at least one cell.
 9. The method of claim 5, wherein the sound isrecorded using a microphone on a mobile device.
 10. The method of claim5, further comprising: referencing the at least one audio file in afunction associated with the spreadsheet; determining that a conditionof the function is satisfied; and playing the at least one audio file.11. The method of claim 10, wherein playing the at least one audio filecomprises one of: playing the at least one audio file from the at leastone cell in the spreadsheet; sending the at least one audio file in amessage to a user; and sending the at least one audio file as avoicemail to a user.
 12. A method of associating a text transcription ofan audio file with a spreadsheet, comprising: receiving at least oneaudio file; associating the at least one audio file with a cell of thespreadsheet; transcribing the at least one audio file into text;creating a compound data type including the at least one audio file andthe text transcription; and associating the compound data type with thecell of the spreadsheet.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the atleast one audio file is received by one of: recording the at least oneaudio file; pasting the at least one audio file into the cell; droppingthe at least one audio file into the cell; retrieving the at least oneaudio file from storage; converting a range of values in the spreadsheetinto the at least one audio file; converting a document into the atleast one audio file; and converting a musical score into the at leastone audio file.
 14. The method of claim 12, further comprising:referencing the at least one audio file in a function associated withthe spreadsheet; determining that a condition of the function issatisfied; and providing the text transcription in a popup bubbleassociated with the at least one cell.
 15. The method of claim 12,further comprising: identifying a plurality of tracks for the at leastone audio file; splicing the audio file into the plurality of tracks;and performing audio processing on one or more tracks of the pluralityof tracks.
 16. A computer-readable storage medium storing computerexecutable instructions that, when executed by at least one processingunit, cause a computing device to: receive a selection of a range ofcells within a spreadsheet, wherein each cell of the range of cellscomprises a value; map each value for each cell to an audio pitch;create an audio file based on each mapped audio pitch; creating acompound data type including the audio file and the value for each cell;associate the compound data type with the range of cells.
 17. Thecomputer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the range of cellsis selected automatically.
 18. The computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 16, wherein the audio file is played by a low-vision user toidentify the values associated with the range of cells.
 19. Thecomputer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the sound isplayed using a speaker on a mobile device.
 20. The computer-readablestorage medium of claim 16, wherein an audio file is created for eachrange of cells having values within the spreadsheet.